Music has been a part of every time period in human history, and is a part of every culture on the planet. Music connects people together. These are my core beliefs as a music teacher.  My passion as an educator is finding, exploring and celebrating the connections between music, other content areas, and real-world applications. I absolutely love digging into subject matters that seem unrelated in any way to music and making those connections visible to the students I teach!

I know that most of the students I teach will not go on to become professional musicians, but studying music still has impacts on their lives. Making music gives students so many benefits, as has been proven time and again through scientific research. However, my favorite thing about making music is the many places music has taken me in my life - from playing in a jazz club in London, to performing on a cruise ship in the Caribbean, to now going to Antarctica. I would not have had any of these experiences without having learned how to work hard for a polished end result. These are great examples to show the students that music can take you anywhere!

The greatest thing about all of these connections in music is that students get to see the practical use of their skills in other school subjects. As an example, students who say that they are not good at math are often surprised to know they are using math every time that they are looking at the rhythm of music. When I was a kid, I had a rough calculus class in high school that shook my confidence in my math skills. I want to show students that they do math all the time, and that they understand these concepts more than they realize. Using music to understand something that students find difficult gives them a little bit more confidence to jump into other subject matters or try things that they might not necessarily think that they could do. My classroom is a safe place to experiment with new ideas and experiences to help the students find what they love. I use music as a guide to introduce them to new ideas and experiences, as they explore concepts and skills that may ignite their curiosity and passion! I love all of the experiences that music has given me, but there is nothing more exciting than watching students find their own passion, and dreaming big about where their journeys will take them!