Topics
These are subjects I can speak to from direct experience. Each can be shaped as a conference session, a workshop for practicing teachers, a guest lecture, or a conversation.
What homeschool families are teaching us about community music education
Who homeschool families are now, how they organize, and why music and theater have become gathering points for them. What this population means for our profession.
For: State and national conferences, advocacy sessions
Reaching homeschool and virtual-school students in your community
Practical options for school and community music educators: noticing who is not being served, partnering with co-ops, scheduling, and building trust with families.
For: School music educators, district leaders
Once a week: rigor with limited rehearsal time
How to build sequential skill and real performance standards when an ensemble meets once a week. Repertoire, home practice, and what to expect of students and parents.
For: Ensemble directors in community and alternative settings
The teacher as builder
Growing a program from two band and two choir classes in a borrowed room to nearly 800 students. Saying yes to demand without lowering the bar, and the decisions that mattered most.
For: Educators considering starting a program, arts administrators
Belonging in the ensemble
How ensembles meet students where they are, including neurodiverse students, and why that is what a healthy ensemble does rather than an accommodation added later.
For: Inclusion and accessibility sessions, parent audiences
Professionalizing community arts education
Hiring and paying working educators, owning a facility, and the move from a borrowed room to an institution. What sustainability requires.
For: Community music schools, nonprofit and arts leaders
