Five Practices,
One Vision
From theory to the field: how five promising practices came to life in rural South Carolina.
The Real-World Journey: Creative Solutions for Real Challenges
The CARE Project was never designed to be a rigid, one-size-fits-all curriculum forced onto schools. Instead, it became a four-year adventure of listening, adapting, and finding creative workarounds to everyday challenges.
In rural schools, finding and keeping specialized arts teachers is incredibly difficult, and tight school budgets often mean the arts are the first programs to get trimmed. On top of that, schools face competing demands—for example, in 2023, the state mandated that all elementary teachers complete an intensive, two-year reading course, which left teachers with very little time for arts training.
Building on Rural Assets
A framework only matters if it can take a hit and keep standing. We built this one in the dust and the noise of real schools.
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Faith Communities
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Partnered with a local pastor with media experience to launch an afterschool music and media club.
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Higher Education
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A university campus hosted school events helping introduce the project to the community.
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Libraries
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Partnered with the Allendale County Library to project students’ digital artwork onto the building’s exterior windows, turning it into a public art gallery.
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Alumni & Community Networks
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An alumni network helped secure a donated baby grand piano, breathing new life into the middle and high school choir program.
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Arts Organizations
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A local arts organization coordinated the CARE Gallery Project, bringing professional artwork into schools in both districts.
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Statewide Advisors
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Dance educators from other ABC Institute schools guided staff on equipping a new studio, speeding up setup for a new program.
Using Resources Creatively
The Library Projection Project
The project turned everyday facilities into cultural hubs. They partnered with the local public library to record students’ artwork digitally and project it onto the library’s exterior windows, turning the building into a massive, glowing public art gallery.
The Choral Program's Baby Grand
Through alumni networks and community relationships, the superintendent of one district secured a donated baby grand piano and funding to keep it tuned, breathing new life into the middle and high school choir program.
- Tapping Local Talent
- When a school lacked staff to run an arts program, CARE partnered with a local pastor with media experience to launch an afterschool music and media club.
- Leaning on Technology
- To reach busy teachers who couldn’t attend in-person training, CARE used One Stop Workshop, a free platform with 180+ on-demand sessions on arts integration.
- Empowering Early Adopters
- Rather than requiring training for everyone at once, CARE focused on passionate early adopters, like the elementary teacher who became the school’s dedicated Exploratory Arts educator. See her full story on the Guideposts page.
Technology Spans Distance
Rural schools are spread across wide distances, and teachers rarely have time to travel for training. CARE leaned on One Stop Workshop, a free, year-round platform with more than 180 on-demand sessions, so educators could learn arts-integration strategies whenever it fit their schedule, not just when a workshop happened to be nearby.
Collaboration Across Sectors, Borders & Disciplines
A good framework bends so it will not break. We tested ours against the hard realities of teacher shortages, tight budgets, and the long miles between rural towns.
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Faith-based partnerships provided instructional support in both counties. In Hampton, a local church secured space for a piano and guitar lab, opening up instrumental instruction for students and the wider community.
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A veteran Hampton County band director partnered with Allendale’s choral director to assess the high school band program ahead of a new hire, sharing expertise across county lines.
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An art teacher at a Hampton County middle school helped bring a curated gallery exhibit directly into the school. With a supplemental teacher guide, colleagues across subjects wove the exhibit into their own lessons, not just art class.
Policy & Rural Networks
The need for a different approach doesn’t come from a lack of talent in these communities. It comes from differences in infrastructure, districts without a large enough tax base to support a full-time arts coordinator, and geographic isolation that makes it hard to hire and keep specialized staff.
- Traditional ABC Certification
- A multi-year process of implementing a standards-based arts curriculum, built for well-resourced schools with dedicated staff.
- The New CARE Approach
- Strategic-planning templates, on-demand professional learning, and ready-to-use classroom toolkits, built for minimally resourced schools to start their own journey.
Where the Journey Begins
These five practices shaped every decision along the way. Here’s what four years of putting them into practice actually looked like.