This week, Kathryn and Theresa talked to Dr. Brian Weidner, an assistant professor of music education at Butler University, in Indianapolis, Indiana. Brian spent twelve years teaching high school band prior to earning a PhD from Northwestern University. Much of his work now spawned from the various questions he asked during his time teaching public school music, such as, how do we build classrooms that emphasize musical independence?

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Get a free book preview here: Pass the Baton: Empowering All Music Students

For more info: Pass the Baton

Free Download: 6 Questions to Pass the Baton and Empower Your Music Students 

Free Download: Amplify Student Voice With Exit Tickets for Self Reflection

This week, Kathryn and Theresa talked to Kevin Feher, a high school band director in Southeast Pennsylvania. After graduating from Duquesne University with a degree in music education, Kevin taught in a variety of settings before joining the music department at Penn Ridge High School, where he has taught for the last seven years. In this interview, Kevin talks about how he incorporates mission statements in his high school band program.  

Connect with Kevin and learn more:  

Get a free book preview here: Pass the Baton: Empowering All Music Students

For more info: Pass the Baton

Free Download: 6 Questions to Pass the Baton and Empower Your Music Students 

Free Download: Amplify Student Voice With Exit Tickets for Self Reflection

This week Kathryn and Theresa interviewed Angela Ammerman, an adjunct professor of music at George Mason University in Northern Virginia. Angela is a lifelong music educator, teaching her dolls to sing as a young child, teaching private lessons in her neighborhood as a middle school student, and working as a counselor at a strings camp in high school. This helped her realize early on the importance of music when building community and shaped her development as a music educator.

One of Angela’s passions involves working with English Language Learners (ELLs), which began when she was teaching at Annandale High School in Fairfax County, Virginia. Angela has noticed many benefits to her students as a result of participating in orchestra as ELLs. Students had more confidence, increased English language skills, and felt they were part of a community. Angela now works to share what she's learned about teaching ELLs with other music educators.

Connect with Angela and learn more:

Get a free book preview here: Pass the Baton: Empowering All Music Students

For more info: Pass the Baton

Free Download: 6 Questions to Pass the Baton and Empower Your Music Students 

Free Download: Amplify Student Voice With Exit Tickets for Self Reflection

This week Kathryn and Theresa had the pleasure of interviewing NAfME president-elect, Scott Sheehan! In addition to his NAfME responsibilities, Scott is the high school band director and K-12 music department chair in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania. He is involved with PMEA, working with their Leadership Academy and the Model Curriculum Framework project. Scott is also a Conn-Selmer educational clinician. Along with his varied roles and teaching experiences, Scott is very knowledgeable about the national music standards launched in 2014. He even worked on one of the revision teams, providing feedback on the performance track before the standards were officially released.

In this interview, Scott shared some great information about the standards, including:

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This week’s interview features Matt Clauhs, an associate professor of Music Education at Ithaca College. Matt’s background includes degrees at Penn State University (B.S.), the University of Massachusetts, Amherst (M.M.) and Temple University (Ph.D.), as well as experience teaching band students at both the elementary and high school levels. As a jazz saxophone player, Matt has always been interested in incorporating creativity and improvisation in all areas of music education, not just jazz studies. Not only is it a positive and rewarding experience for students, creativity and artistic literacy are part of our national music standards.

In this interview, Matt talked to us about a variety of topics, including

Be sure to check out the full interview to learn more about how Matt infuses creativity and improvisation in his ensembles, along with some great anecdotes and inspiration! Creativity in Young Ensembles

Connect with Matt and learn more:

Get a free book preview here: Pass the Baton: Empowering All Music Students    

For more info: Pass the Baton

Free Download: 6 Questions to Pass the Baton and Empower Your Music Students 

Free Download: Amplify Student Voice With Exit Tickets for Self Reflection

This week’s interview features Melissa Clark, a music teacher in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. Currently, Melissa teaches 4th-6th grade strings and sixth grade general music. She also has experience teaching 7th and 8th grade strings. In this interview, Melissa talks to us about the small shifts she’s made in her music classes to empower students!     

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Welcome back! This week, Kathryn and Theresa interviewed Rachael Sanguinetti, a middle school music teacher in Rochester, New York. Rachael’s teaching load includes middle school chorus and a variety of general music classes, such as 6th grade foundational music, audio production and modern band, ukulele, and more. Being at an independent school, Rachael has the flexibility to create courses the students are most interested in - which is perfect for student empowerment!  

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This week Kathryn and Theresa talked to Mandy Hollingshead, an international band teacher. Mandy has taught in the Middle East, Hong Kong, and Beijing. Prior to teaching internationally, Mandy taught band in Canada. One thing Mandy has tried to incorporate in all of her schools is having students help with concert planning. 

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This week, we were excited to interview Shemeka Nash, a band director in Chicago, Illinois. Shemeka currently teaches 7th-12th grade band at Morgan Park High School and is also the fine arts department chair. She has done a lot of great things for the band program at Morgan Park, including creating a student-centered modern band.

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This week’s interview features Brian Ackles, a vocal music teacher at Marcellus High School, in Marcellus, NY. Brian has taught in his current position for 20 years, and previously taught middle school and elementary school music. In this interview, Brian talks about his student-centered choral program.   

Connect with Brian and learn more:  

Get a free preview here: Pass the Baton: Empowering All Music Students  

For more info: Pass the Baton