I have 17 years of experience teaching instrumental music to young band students, a current Illinois teaching certificate, and a master’s degree in music education. I have taught middle school and elementary school bands, jazz bands, jazz combos, marching bands, and small-group, homogenous lessons for all band instruments from fourth through eighth grade. I have strong performance and pedagogical skills on all of the band instruments and teach “with instrument in hand.”I currently teach part-time in Willowbrook at Westview Hills Middle School. I teach a large-group ensemble that meets daily and ten small-group band lessons per-week. In addition to this part-time job I also teach 14 private students per-week. I have private students on most of the band instrument and teach students ages 8 – adult. Both of these part-time jobs are wonderful, however, I am eager to return to full-time band teaching. I hope that my next teaching position will be one that I hold for the next twenty years!I truly enjoy teaching young band students and thrive on helping them become confident musicians and instrumentalists. My teaching focuses on individual instrumental technique, ensemble skills, ear training, and musical expression. Students I teach take pride in their individual musical accomplishments and in the group accomplishments of their school band. I actively challenge myself to make the band experience positive, engaging and meaningful for my students. I am an enthusiastic, organized teacher who maintains strong communication with students, parents, colleagues, and administrators. I am able to bring experience and expertise from past teaching positions organizing band programs (budget - inventory), scheduling ensembles, lessons and performances, developing band curriculum (literature selection, skills curriculum, assessment development, curricular documents), using music technology for instruction, and using other technology for organization and communication.