E.A. Diddle Arena wasn’t filled with the sound of bouncing balls, running players or a referee’s whistle Monday night.

Instead, music from string instruments filled the air during a concert by fourth-, fifth- and sixth-graders in the Public Schools Strings Program.

&#8220It’s always a little bit of a scare when you put 230 kids together on a piece at the same time, not having rehearsed that way,” said Bill Scott, head of the strings program.

But the children, who came from eight city and county schools, &#8220did beautifully,” said Scott, who is also a Western Kentucky University music professor and conductor of the Bowling Green Western Symphony Orchestra.

Makenize Brumit, a fifth-grader at W.R. McNeill Elementary, loved playing violin in the concert.

&#8220It was fun and we had a lot of fun songs we could play,” she said.

During the concert, a couple of pieces were performed by the fourth-graders; the fifth- and sixth-graders joined to play a couple of songs as a group; the sixth-graders then performed alone; and all the children performed the concert’s finale, &#8220Bile ’em Cabbage Down,” which had not been rehearsed by the children as a group.

&#8220It was kind of a little nerve-wracking” to play the finale without having rehearsed together, Makenize said.

But after it was over, &#8220I kind of felt happy,” she said.

Makenize began playing violin in the Public Schools Strings Program last year.

For her, it was a dream come true.

&#8220I have always wanted to play the violin,” she said. &#8220I was kind of excited and happy” about it.

She now hopes to play for years to come.

&#8220I just like the sound” of the violin, she said.

About 250 children take part in the Public Schools Strings Program, which was started three years ago through a monetary donation to the WKU music department from Bowling Green resident Jerry Baker and matching funds from the state.

Scott, who was hired as the Baker Professor at Western, thanks to Baker’s donation, was put in charge of the program. He put experience he gained from leading a similar program in Spartanburg, S.C., to the test locally.

The first year, the program was only in William H. Natcher Elementary School and included about 20 children.

Now, the program is also in Parker-Bennett-Curry, Dishman-McGinnis, T.C. Cherry, Potter Gray, McNeill, Cumberland Trace and Briarwood elementary schools.

&#8220We’re so excited about this because it’s just taken off,” said Mitzi Groom, head of the music department at Western.

Next year, the program will also be in Bowling Green Junior High School.

Eventually, Scott hopes, the program will be in all the middle schools and high schools.

&#8220I look forward to the day when I can offer a full music scholarship to a Bowling Green High School graduate or a county schools graduate” who wants to study strings at WKU, Scott said.

It will be a bonus if the children grow up to be part of the Bowling Green Western Symphony Orchestra.

&#8220We’d love to be populating and growing our own string players,” Groom said. &#8220We’ve not been able to do that ’til now, but patience is a virtue. We have to give them time to get there.”

For now, Groom hopes the strings program helps children be their best in lots of ways.

&#8220There are kids out there and I know they’ve had problems in school,” Groom said. &#8220They can be successful in this and that success will rub off on the other things. That’s what we wanted. We know not everyone’s going to be a great musician, but we wanted them to have that success behind them.”

In addition to Scott, the teachers in the Public Schools Strings Program include Angela Rex, a music professor in residence at Western, and Sarah Boronow, a visiting professional in residence at the university.