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  • Debbie Flanagan, PreK 3
  • Lynne Antol, Prek 4
  • Michele Leite, Kindergarten
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  • Kathleen Kelly, Second Grade
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  • Brendan McGoldrick, Seventh Grade and Middle School ILA and Social
  • Patricia Hale, Eighth Grade and Middle School Mathematics
  • Jennifer Baeder, Middle School Science
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  • Emily Keene, Music
  • Connie Jamele, Art
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• Parent Information

Emily Keene, Music

Welcome to Music!

WELCOME TO MUSIC!

I would like to extend my personal welcome to all new and returning students and their families. This year, all music classes will have an opportunity to learn about the instruments of the orchestra, instruments used in pop, rock, and jazz, as well as instruments from the folk traditions of many countries. Many of these instruments will be available for students to "try out" in class, while other larger or rarer instruments will be studied less directly.   My hope for this year is that students of all ages learn to appreciate how music study contributes to our understanding of the world’s cultures and history, while we learn to express ourselves through our own music-making.

 

Participation is the key to success in music class. When the class is singing, every student physically able to sing is expected to do so. When the class is listening to music, every student is expected to sit quietly and listen. When instruments are being played, every student is expected to take their turn and try to play as instructed.

 

For grades 3 – 8, every student is expected to come to class with a pencil ( or eraseable pen ) and a music notebook. The music notebooks, with musical staves printed on the paper, were on the school supply list for these grades. A student without a pencil and the music notebook will be considered unprepared for class. Graded textbooks and printed music are kept in the music room, and students are expected to handle them with care.

 

There are occasional quizzes, mostly relating to the instruments being studied or notespelling. These are to give students a chance to demonstrate what they have learned.

 

The two major concerts are scheduled for Tuesday December 11 and Thursday May 23. These are the equivalent of exams. Please keep these evenings free, since ALLstudents - including Pre-K students -  are expected to participate, and failure to do so will have a negative impact on a student’s grade, resulting in non-qualification for the school Honor Roll. Emergencies and serious conflicts must be excused through the principal’s office, and an alternative assignment will be given. Unexcused students absent from the concert will not have the opportunity to do an alternate assignment.

 

All equipment, music textbooks, instruments, and classroom furnishings must be handled with care. Students, who through willful or careless behavior damage instruments or equipment, will be responsible for the damage and may have their grade affected, per the grading rubric for special subjects.

 

I look forward to making music with the MTRS community this year!

Emily Hastings Keene, Music

Emily Hastings Keene was a voice major in the BM program at Cleveland Institute of Music, studying with Metropolitan Opera mezzo-soprano Helen Vanni. She received a Performer's Diploma from the London Opera Centre in England, and a BA and MM from West Virginia University. After a career of about 20 years as an opera and musical theater performer, she taught voice, voice pedagogy, opera movement, and foreign language diction for West Virginia and Seton Hill Universities. She is also an experienced director of children's choirs, and has served as a choir clinician and director of music for churches of many denominations.