Mill Creek Middle School
Claremont, NC
Katie is in her 18th year teaching chorus and handbells to 7th and 8th grade teens in public school. They learn so much more than reading music. Students learn that they are each responsible for playing/singing their part correctly, for a performance is a collective body of work. Such a valuable life lesson! Each year students perform before hundreds at the Southern Christmas Show, they sing for collegiate-level judges at Carowinds (and have received Superior rating every year), they perform the National Anthem at a local semi-professional baseball game, plus numerous other concerts to share their works. Katie has driven students by activity bus to Charlotte on Sundays to attend Broadway performances. Not limited to her own classses, she has organized a multi-night 8th grade trip to Washington DC. She serves as a leader in her school by chairing committees and serving as a certified mentor to beginning teachers. Katie spends hours after school preparing students who are auditioning or performing in All-County or All-State honors chorus. Encouraging social responsibility, Katie takes her students to a local Senior Living center to prepare Christmas “goodie boxes”. Katie’s students are presented with a global awareness of the impact of the performing arts and the many opportunities to participate and appreciate.
Katie is one of the first to volunteer to drive a field trip bus for another teacher or serve “gate duty” for school athletic events. She has assisted beginning teachers as head mentor in her school. Each principal for whom she has worked has suggested she would be an excellent school administrator, but Katie has a passion for working with students in the classroom. A perennial nominee in her school for Teacher of the Year, Katie was selected as 2020-2021 Secondary Teacher of the Year for the entire Catawba County Schools system. Katie is a regular attendee at music educator conferences, and has served as adjudicator for All-County Chorus in a neighboring school district. In addition to her work at school she serves as choir director at her church, preparing and teaching music to children and adults for weekly Sunday services. Katie is a volunteer performer with the East Lincoln Community Chorus. Katie finds joy in sharing the gift of music and is a long-time member of the North Carolina Music Educators Association. Officials of the NC Department of Public Instruction were highly complimentary when she took handbells students to perform for them in Raleigh at Christmas. She represents the music program of her school system as the planner and organizer of annual All-County Chorus.
Katie doesn’t have the luxury of choosing her music students. These middle-schoolers have either requested the chorus or handbells class, or they were simply assigned because it fit their schedules. As such she is challenged with many students who are initially reluctant because it was not of their choice. She must encourage singing from adolescent boys whose voices are still changing. Many of these students have no musical experience at all. Handbells are very expensive instruments and students quickly learn it is imperative that they are handled with respect and care. When school resumed after the COVID hiatus she took her students outdoors to sing, at arms-length distance from each other. They have created individual stories using words made from the seven letters of musical notes (A, B, C, D, E, F, G). If a performance is a collective representation of the efforts of many individuals, how will a teacher inspire all of them to excel? All of Katie’s handbells students must pass a proficiency test in music reading before any are allowed to use the bells. Those who are struggling are coached by their peers, until every one of them has been successful. For her recent school spring chorus concert Katie’s seventh graders performed a piece called “Dance”. As all of the students sang, several of them came forward and performed a self-choreographed “step” routine. Her concert program always includes a piece sung in Latin, a selection promoting cultural or social inclusion, and a “fun” performance incorporating movement. Perhaps her greatest challenge was the year Katie was pregnant with her now eight year old daughter, when the school lost their band teacher and Katie was asked to teach seventh and eighth grade band, despite never having performed a band instrument beyond required college classes. But she did it with the same spirit and high standards as everything else she teaches.