Holiday Magic for District 7

A Literacy and Arts Partnership

This holiday season, your Spartanburg Philharmonic and Hub City Writers Project teamed up once again to give the gift of music and literature to students across Spartanburg County School District 7. In 2019 the partnership gave out 100 copies of Raymond Brigg’s The Snowman to Cleveland Academy and Meeting Street students invited to a special holiday Music Sandwiched In. However, with the holidays looking a little less magical due to the coronavirus, both organizations wanted to build on last year’s efforts and impact even more students’ lives.

Through the generosity of like-minded donors, this year, all first-grade students across District 7 received a beautiful hardbound copy of Twas The Night Before Christmas as well as a special bookmark containing information on how to access the Philharmonic’s online performance of the classic tale at home. The performance, which was part of the program “Burg Bound: A Stay-At-Home Holiday Concert” featured beloved former District 7 Superintendent, Dr. Russell Booker, and included special appearances by the Spartanburg Little Theatre.

“When we decided to include Twas The Night Before Christmas in this season’s holiday concert, we immediately knew it gave us the opportunity to partner with Hub City Writers Project once again,” says Kathryn Boucher, Spartanburg Philharmonic Executive Director. “This book and accompanying performance

allowed both organizations to continue the artistic and literary enrichment of our youngest community members while also giving them a little extra holiday magic in what has been an extremely challenging year.”

Shortly before the holiday break, both the Philharmonic and Hub City Writers Project acted as elves, delivering the books to each elementary school in person. While all District 7 Elementary schools are closed to guests, which meant not getting to hand-deliver to each student, each class’s enthusiasm was palpable in every photo shared by teachers and school principals. Mr. Tom Webster, principal at Drayton Mills Elementary School, enthusiastically thanked the Philharmonic and Hub City Writers Project, saying, “The DMES children loved these [books] - they’ve been a HUGE hit!”

Hub City Writers Project’s Executive Director, Anne Waters, exuded excitement and gratitude for the project. “We were glad to be able to spread a little cheer this holiday season by sharing Clement C. Moore’s quintessential classic Twas The Night Before Christmas,” Waters shared. “Because of Dr. Booker, Spartanburg Little Theater, and the Spartanburg Philharmonic, Spartanburg [has] a memorable celebration of the arts. And thanks to District Seven and some generous donors, 530 first grade students celebrated the [season] with their own “Big Read.”