Music Teacher, West Shore School District

Kate spends the school year teaching music to students in Red Mill Elementary School, Fairview Elementary School, and ExCEL Virtual Academy at the West Shore School District. She not only leads students in active music-making, but she also coordinates and edits Red Mill's morning announcements.

Before Fall of 2022, Kate worked at Lincoln Charter for 17 years.  In 2017, she received the school's first Staff Member of the Year award.  
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Kate reviewing the class rules with her students. Source

Recorder Teacher Educator for the American Orff Schulwerk Association
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Kate teaching levels at West Chester University
To become a certified Orff-Schulwerk educator, teachers must take three 2-week in-person classes consisting of pedagogy, recorder, and movement components. To become certifed to teach those summer courses, a teacher educator must undergo a rigorous process that involves extensive work teaching both adults and children, attending master classes in the Orff-Schulwerk approach, as well as a portfolio submission that demonstrates a deep understanding of the Orff-Schulwerk process. Kate is one of only 36 recorder teacher educators certified to teach all three levels in the United States of America. She currently teaches recorder levels I, II, and III at West Chester University as well as co-teaching recorder levels I, II, and III with Fauna Woolfe at Portland Orff Levels. 

Secretary, American Center for Elemental Music and Movement

In the fall of 2015, Kate was awarded the Spotlight Award from the American Center for Elemental Music and Movement.  This award helped change her life, so she joined the Spotlight Committee to help other music teachers have the same wonderful experience.  Kate was then asked to join the board and is now the secretary. She now leads the Empowerment committee and is responsible for distributing Spark Grants, Beacon Scholarships, Spotlight Awards, and serves as moderator of ACEMM's weekly book study.  If you want to learn more about the amazing organization that is ACEMM, check out their website!

Choir Director, Hummelstown Community Singers

Since 2004, Kate has spent her Monday nights at the Hummelstown United Church of Christ either accompanying or directing the Hummelstown Community Singers.  A non-auditioned choir, the group began in 1990 and continues on today.  If you live in Central PA and would like to join us, check out our Facebook page for more information. We are currently preparing for our Winter 2022 concert!
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Kate with the Hummelstown Community Singers at their Spring 2018 Concert

Past President, Greater Baltimore Area Orff Schulwerk Association

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Kate at the AOSA National Conference in San Diego.
After completing her Orff Schulwerk Levels at Villanova (through the Philadelphia University of the Arts), Kate has been an enthusiastic member (and sometimes board member) of three chapters of the American Orff Schulwerk Association.  From 2015-2016, she served as president of the Philadelphia Area Orff Schulwerk Association. From 2014 - 2016, and again from 2019-2023, she served as president of the Greater Baltimore Area Orff Schulwerk Association. She currently holds the past-president position at the GBAOSA chapter. She credits attending the workshops of three chapters as a large factor in her development as a music teacher.

Composer

During the pandemic, Kate has been  using Soundtrap to help bring some of her compositions to life. You can see some of her work featured on the Ready Go Music YouTube channel or on her own YouTube Channel here.

Clinician

PictureKate at the Fall MMEA conference in 2018
Kate has travelled across the country giving workshops about how to use the Orff Schulwerk process to help teachers create students that are active and creative musicians.  Kate has presented at the following organizations:
  • Afternoon Ti Podcast: Elemental Music (2022)
  • American River Orff Chapter of AOSA: "Elemental Musical Adventures: Composing and Creating with Students" (2022)
  • AOSA National Conference: "Elemental Elements and Recorder Improvisation" (2024); "Steps to Prep the Recorder (2022); "Steps to (Virtually) Prep the Recorder" (2020); "One Song:  a Piece to Spiral Through Your Curriculum" (2018); "Around the World in 80 Beats" (2016)​
  • Arkansas Orff: "Playing with Music" (2021)
  • Canadian Orff PLC: "Just Like the Moon and other Stories" (2023), "The End Is Just the Beginning" (2022)
  • Central California Orff Chapter: "Elemental Musical Adventures" (2021)
  • Central Ohio Chapter of AOSA: "Elemental Musical Adventures: Composing and Creating with Students" (2023)
  • Detroit Orff Schulwerk Association: "Around the World in 80 Beats" (2018) & "Elemental Musical Adventures: Composing and Creating with Students" (2023)
  • F-Flat Annual Back-to-School Symposium: Using Elemental Music and Movement to Explore Emotions (2022)
  • Green Country Oklahoma Orff Chapter:"Nurturing the Unexpected" (2020)
  • Greater Baltimore Area Orff Schulwerk Association: "Teaching to the Void" (2020); "Let's All Dance:  Planning a Family Folk Dance Night" (2019); "From Storybook to Stage" (2018) with Daniel Rhode; "Around the World in 80 Beats," (2015)
  • Greater Chicago Area Orff Schulwerk Association: "Elemental Musical Adventures: Composing and Creating with Students" (2023)
  • Greater Cincinnati Chapter of AOSA : "Nurturing the Unexpected" (2020)
  • Greater Cleveland Orff Chapter: "Around the World in 80 Beats" (2019)
  • Heart of America Orff Chapter: "Elemental Musical Adventures" (2022); "Elemental Musical Adventures: In-Person Edition" (2025)
  • Idaho Orff Chapter: "Around the World in 80 Beats" (2020)
  • International Sunday Sharing USA: "The End is Just a Beginning!" (2021)
  • James River Orff Schulwerk Association:  "Elemental Musical Adventures" (2022)
  • Long Island American Orff Schulwerk Asssociation: "Elemental Musical Adventures: Composing and Creating with Students" (2022)
  • Low Country Chapter of AOSA: "Elemental Musical Adventures" (2022)
  • Minnesota Orff Chapter: "Elemental Musical Adventures" (2021)
  • MMEA - "Online Tools for Elemental Music Making" (Winter 2021); "Around the World in 80 Beats" (Winter 2019); "The Wolf is On His Way" (Winter 2019); "Egg Cartons & Scrambled Eggs: Exploring 6/8 in the Elementary Classroom" (Fall 2018) with Becky Burdett
  • Mountain Laurel Chapter of AOSA: "Elemental Musical Adventures: Composing and Creating with Students" (2023)
  • NAFME All-Eastern Conference: "Egg Cartons & Scrambled Eggs: Exploring 6/8 in the Elementary Classroom" (2019) with Becky Burdett
  • NAFME Eastern Division Virtual Conference: "Digital Resources for Elemental Music Making" (2021)
  • Northern New Jersey Area Orff Schulwerk Association: "Around the World in 80 Beats" (2018)
  • New England American Orff Schulwerk Association:"Around the World in 80 Beats" (2019)
  • New Mexico Chapter of AOSA: "Elemental Musical Adventures: Composing and Creating with Students" (2022)
  • Ohio Music Educators Association: "Cross-Curricular Integration" (Winter 2021); "Using Literature to Develop Musicianship" (Winter 2021); "Building Virtual Music Classrooms for Active Music Making" (Fall 2020); "Interactive music with Google Slides for the Elementary Music Classroom" (Fall 2020)
  • Otterbein University: "Cross Curricular Integration" (2021)
  • Peabody Saturday Series - "Using Mixed Meter with All Ages," 2018 and "Orff Without Instruments" 2020 with Warkenda Williams-Casey
  • Philadelphia Area Orff Schulwerk Association - "You Are Enough" (2020), with Drue Bullington, David Thaxton, Ardith Collins, and Michelle Przybylowski; "Star Light, Star Bright" - portion of the Tossi Aaron memorial workshop (2019)"Elemental Dumpster Diving" (2017) with Daniel Rhode
  • PMEA District Professional Development -  District 9: "Steps to Prep the Recorder" (2019); District 7: "Using Centers Purposefully in the Elementary Music Classroom" with Lisa Sempsey; District 7:"Steps to Prep the Recorder" and "Dancing Through Your Curriculum." (2018)
  • PMEA District 9 Professional Development Day - "Steps to Prep the Recorder" (2019)
  • Portland Orff Schulwerk Association: Orff-Schulwerk Levels I, II, III; Recorder Teacher Educator (2025)
  • Teaching with Orff: Frosty Fundamentals: Winter Lessons and Mallet Magic (2025), A Joyful Start: Tips for a Successful School Year (2023), The Magic of Stories: Lessons for the Orff Classroom (2023), Survive and Thrive: Play Your Way to the End of the School Year (2022), Cross-Curricular Lessons: Looking Through the Lens of Orff (2022)
  • Tidewater Orff Chapter of AOSA: "Elemental Musical Adventures: Composing and Creating with Students" (2022)
  • Twin Tiers Orff Schulwerk Association: "Around the World in 80 Beats" (2019)
  • Utah Chapter of the American Orff Schulwerk Association: "Nurturing the Unexpected" (2021)
  • Virginia Highlands Orff Chapter: "Nurturing the Unexpected" (2021)
  • ​West Chester University: "Moving Through the Pentatonic Modes" (2022), Orff-Schulwerk Levels I, II, III; Recorder Teacher Educator (2025)​​
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