JEFFERSON COUNTY — Mary Bowlen took a trip to Hawaii five years ago and came back with a whole new way to teach music to her students. At a friend’s house in Hawaii, Bowlen, the music teacher at ...

A smiling Inger Gilbert prepared for her ukulele lesson recently by playing “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands,” a song she learned after three sessions at the N.C. Ukulele Academy on Racine Drive ...