Past Workshops:
2008-2009
2007-2008
2008-2009 Workshops
Click on the workshop name for more information,
including a bio of the presenter.
| Date: | Workshop: |
|---|---|
| August 18, 2008 | Sheila Yoder Baer: Bucket Drumming |
| September 13, 2008 | Roger Sams: Process |
| October 18, 2008 | Anne Fennell: Composition |
| November 12-15, 2008 | National AOSA Conference: North Carolina |
| February 21, 2009 | Cindy Hall: Play & Process |
| March 7, 2009 | Tracy St. Clair & Bridget Zimmermann: Xylomania! - Music Integration |
| April 18, 2009 | Julie Scott: Recorder |
Sheila Yoder Baer: Drumming with Buckets
August 18, 2008 - 6:00pm
Carman Trails Elementary
Finding activities that excite middle school students can be tough. Worry no more—Orff instruments not required and these activities will also work for upper elementary! In this workshop we will learn different sounds the bucket can make. How do you get every kid in your room to have a hands on experience through rhythm and movement? We will work in groups and watch a 6th grade performance on buckets.
Sheila Yoder Baer, originally from central Kansas, now residing west of St. Louis, has taught elementary and secondary music for 20 years in both public and private schools. Sheila earned a BA in Music Education from Goshen College, Goshen, IN and has taken master courses in Music Education from the Univ. of Nebraska, Univ. of Missouri, and Webster Univ., St. Louis, most recently receiving certification in ORFF Levels I & II from Webster.
Sheila has presented at international, national, and state conferences, including Association for the Education of Young Children, Crucial Early Years, Parents as Teachers, Missouri Music Educators Association and Kansas Music Educators Association. Currently, Sheila teaches general music (K-6) and directs a 4th 5th and 6th grade choir in the Union R-XI School District, Union, MO, and is the Elementary Vice President of East Central District #7 Missouri Educators Association.
Sheila is a regular volunteer promoting FAIR TRADE through a not-for-profit store in St. Louis, and is active in church music and quilting. Along with her husband, and three children, she enjoys camping, biking, gardening, and sports.
Roger Sams: Paying Attention to Possibilities - Cultivating Self Awareness Through Orff Schulwerk
September 13, 2008 - 9:00am-1:00pm
Carman Trails Elementary
In this workshop, we will look at different ways to structure learning activities to accomplish different learning outcomes, and we will balance our exploration of the big ideas with structured play. A significant portion of our time together will be spent paying attention to ourselves. What kinds of learning activities are we most attracted to as teachers and how does this affect our classroom? Bring with you a mind and body ready to learn, your soprano recorder, Music for Children, Volume I and Rhythmische Ubung, if you own them.

Roger Sams has been an Orff Schulwerk teacher, clinician and teacher trainer for twenty years. He has presented at state, regional and national conferences, has taught in teacher training courses throughout the country, and has served on the National Board of Trustees of AOSA. He is a graduate of the Gestalt Institute of Cleveland and his current passion is supporting personal and spiritual growth through the arts.
Roger Sams has studied ecstatic dance extensively and is a certified TranceDance Ritual facilitator. Roger is the founder of Dancing Paradox: Transformation Through the Arts. He continues to teach children at Hathaway Brown School in Cleveland, Ohio part time while serving as Spiritual Director of the Sacred Arts & Healing Center, where he teaches ongoing classes in transformational spirituality through the arts.
Anne Fennell: Unveiling the Creative Composer
October 18, 2008 - 9:00am-1:00pm
Carman Trails Elementary
Get ready for integrated music experiences that will infuse discovery, composition, literacy, and assessment! Participants will create and read developmentally appropriate rhythms and melodies, across the grade levels, while composing larger ensemble pieces, using both text, notation, and improvisation. In addition, participants will take a creative dive into “running rhythms”, aesthetic valuing, and the need for assessment. This workshop will also incorporate drumming!
Anne Fennell is the Orff-Schulwerk Specialist at the K-8 Vista Academy of Visual and Performing Arts in California where she teaches standards-based integrated music. She is the composer of 32+ original musical productions and her percussion ensemble, ZOOM! has performed for numerous national conferences. She is also an author and a national workshop clinician, coordinator, advocate, facilitator, and guest lecturer, presenting workshops for teachers and administrators in Orff-Schulwerk, composition, and integrated arts programs. Ms. Fennell has presented to the International Music Products Industry, a Senate Advisory Committee, and given interviews on national TV for Disney’s Baby Einstein. She also presented at the U.S. Dept of Education’s Research to Best Practice Conference in Washington D.C.. Ms. Fennell was Vista Unified School District’s 2005 Teacher of the Year and CMEA’s 2006 Southern Border Music Educator of the Year. Anne is an active clinician and contributing author for Making Music and the author for Grade 6, Making Music with the Arts and Across the Curriculum (Silver Burdett, Pearson Scott Foresman, 2006). She is also the author and program director of MusicVentures, an nationally researched and integrated music education program. She holds a Masters of Education in Leadership Studies with an additional certificate in character education.
Cindy Hall: Playing With a Purpose
February 21, 2009 - 9:00am-1:00pm
Carman Trails Elementary
Kids love to play and so will you! Cindy Hall will present active Orff Schulwerk lessons with an emphasis on melodic and rhythmic curriculum concepts. Using poetry, folk song, drama, instrumental pieces, and movement, participants will work through the process of imitation, exploration, and improvisation. Please bring a soprano recorder.

Cindy Hall teaches Orff certification courses at The University of St. Thomas and the University of Kentucky and is an active conference and workshop clinician.
She has taught music to children in public and private schools, directed an after school arts program, and conducted church children’s choirs. She served as a contributing writer of recorder materials for the Macmillan/McGraw-Hill series, Share the Music.
Ms. Hall holds a BA in Music from Duke University, MA in Music Education from the University of Oklahoma, and Orff Certification from Memphis State University and Hamline University. She currently teaches first through fifth grade music and chorus at Rowland Hall- St. Mark’s School in Salt Lake City.
Tracy St. Clair & Bridget Zimmermann: Xylomania!
March 7, 2009 - 9:00am-12:00pm
Carman Trails Elementary
In this workshop you will sing, say, dance, and play while exploring exciting themes to help you teach your music curriculum and integrate the arts into the classroom curriculum! Come with us as we explore Bug-Mania!, Space-Mania!, Brainia-Mania!, H2O-Mania!, and much more!
Xylomania! is a five-day summer music program in St. Louis, Missouri, which provides children an exciting opportunity to explore creative artistry through speech, poetry, songs, games, movement, and the use of instruments. Co-directed and co-founded by Tracy St. Clair and Bridget Zimmermann, Xylomania! has been serving area students for the past 8 years. For more info visit www.xylomania.com
Tracy St. Clair graduated from Truman State University with a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in Vocal Music and a Master of Arts in Education (M.A.E.). She previously taught at United Services in St. Peters, Missouri. Mrs. St. Clair received her Level I and II Orff Certifications and Level I Kodaly Certification from Webster University in St. Louis. She is presently teaching music at Keysor Elementary School in the Kirkwood School District, where she directs multiple ensembles during the school year. Mrs. St. Clair also serves as the Vocal Music Coordinator for the Kirkwood School District and was named "Teacher of the Year" for her school in 2007. Mrs. St. Clair is the Carolers director of the Kirkwood Children’s Chorale. She is a volunteer for the American Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and is a member of MMEA, MENC, ACDA and the American Orff Schulwerk Association.

Bridget Zimmermann graduated from Truman State University with a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in Vocal Music and a Master of Arts in Education (M.A.E.). She has performed as a member of the Robert Shaw Chorale and previously directed choral ensembles at Washington University. She directs the Concert Choir of the Kirkwood Children’s Chorale and made her international directing debut when she directed the Kirkwood Children's Chorale Tour Choir through England in 2006. Mrs. Zimmermann holds Level I and II certification in the Orff Approach and has studied choral conducting with internationally known conductor and teacher, Mr. Henry Leck. Mrs. Zimmermann is the president of the St. Louis AOSA, and is a member of ACDA, MENC, AOSA, and MMEA. She is the music specialist at Barretts Elementary School in the Parkway School District where she was selected as Teacher of the Year in 2004.
Pot Luck Luncheon for all chapter members at 12:00 noon.
Please bring a dish to share!
Julie Scott: Recorder - Let’s Start at the Very Beginning
April 18, 2009 - 9:00am-1:00pm
Carman Trails Elementary
In this hands-on workshop, participants will learn activities for introducing and sequencing recorder instruction, from the first two notes, to pieces in G pentatonic. The lessons will be presented within the context of Orff Schulwerk, and will incorporate Orff instrument accompaniments, movement, and improvisation. Also included will be a short history of the recorder and its use in Orff Schulwerk. We will end the workshop with a playing session for teacher-players of all levels: beginning to advanced. Don’t forget your recorders!
Julie Scott is a certified Orff Schulwerk instructor who has taught elementary music in Texas schools for 17 years. Currently she is Coordinator of Elementary Music for the Richardson, Texas Independent School District.
Julie is pursuing a Ph.D. in Music Education at Eastman School of Music. She taught music education courses for 3 years at Southern Methodist University, where she continues to serve as Adjunct Assistant Professor of Music Education and as Coordinator of the Summer Music Educators Workshops. In addition, Julie is an adjunct faculty member at the University of North Texas, serving as Director of the Center for Contemporary Studies in Music Education.
Julie served as Vice-President/President-Elect of the American Orff Schulwerk Association from 2007-2009 and she will assume the role of AOSA President in July, 2009. Julie has presented numerous workshops to school districts, state music education associations, and local Orff chapters throughout the U.S. She has taught Orff Teacher Training Courses to adults at five universities and has presented workshops at the National Conferences of MENC, AOSA, and the Organization of American Kodaly Educatiors. Julie has presented at international conferences in Australia and Thailand.
2007-2008 Workshops
Click on the workshop name for more information,
including a bio of the presenter.
| Date: | Workshop: |
|---|---|
| August 27, 2007 | Diane Finnestead: Music Integration |
| September 15, 2007 | Artie Almeida: Fun with Fundamentals |
| October 13, 2007 | Brian Crisp: Process to Pieces |
| November 14-17, 2007 | National AOSA Conference: San Jose, CA |
| February 16, 2008 | Crystal Estey & Mary McKenney: Chapter Sharing |
| March 8, 2008 | Susan Ramsay: Singing Games |
| April 19, 2008 | Matt McCoy: The Music of Keetman |
Diane Finnestead: Classroom Collaboration and Music Integration: Music & Readin', Ritin' & 'Rithmatic
August 27, 2007 - 6:00pm
Carman Trails Elementary
This workshop will include the latest research and books that will allow you to build on the classroom experience though music awareness and skills using the Orff process for both you and the classroom teacher.
Diane Finnestead graduated from the University of North Texas with a degree in Music Education and Voice Performance. After teaching one year of middle school choral music in Texas , she returned to St. Louis and was a member of the St. Louis Symphony Chorus for 10 years while enjoying a career in sales and insurance. Diane is currently in her fourth year of teaching music in Missouri where she has worked in the St. Louis Public Schools and Rockwood School District . She is currently the music specialist at Carmen Trails Elementary in the Parkway School District . She has proudly returned home after being a Hanna Woods, Parkway South Middle and Parkway South High graduate. Diane is certified in Orff Levels I & II and Music, Words, Opera Level 1. She is also a business consultant with MMB Music. Diane has a masters degree in Special Education with a concentration in Music Inclusion and is currently in the E.D.S. (Education Specialist) program at Webster University where she will graduate with her administration certification next year. This program will lead her to a Ph.D. in Curriculum and Classroom Collaboration.
Artie Almeida: Fun with Fundamentals - Mallet Madness, All Aboard the Recorder Express, and Concept Collage
September 15, 2007 - 9:00am-1:00pm
Carman Trails Elementary
This workshop combines three different workshops into one. "Mallet Madness" is an exciting mallet rotation experience that reinforces mallet technique as well as musical learning in the areas of rhythm, melody, timbre and form. "Mallet Madness" offers your students the opportunity to explore the entire instrumentarium while focusing on the building blocks of music. Songs, games, and movement experiences are included. "All Aboard the Recorder Express" features a multitude of tips and techniques to help your students become confident music readers via the recorder. The games and activities are very fun for students, while reinforcing basic music skills. "Concept Collage" is a fast-past session which includes many kindergarten through sixth grade, field-tested ideas for illuminating the building blocks of music. Voices, mallet percussion instruments, non-pitched rhythm instruments, recorders and movement are the avenues to learning in this very active clinic.
Dr. Artie Almeida is the music specialist at Bear Lake Elementary school in Apopka, Florida where she teaches 1150 kindergarten through 5th grade students. Her dynamic performing groups have performed for MENC, AOSA, and on the NBC Today Show. Artie was chosen as Florida Music Educator of the Year, and was also selected as an International Educator 2006 by the Cambridge England Biographical Society.
Artie served seven years on the Board of Directors of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, and was an early childhood music consultant for Walt Disney World. She is included in Who's Who in American Education and the publication Great Minds of the 21st Century. She is the author of Mallet Madness, Recorder Express, The Ultimate Game and Activity Pack for Orchestra, ten Music Proficiency Packs, as well as four music theory and assessment games featuring the Warner Brothers Looney Tunes characters.
In addition to her public school teaching duties, Artie teaches applied saxophone lessons and performs on historical winds with the renaissance ensemble Ars Antiqua. For twenty-one years she also taught elementary music classes at the University of Central Florida and early childhood music classes at Seminole Community College. In her spare time Artie enjoys reading, bird watching, and traveling with her husband John, who is the trumpet professor at the University of Central Florida.
Visit Artie Almeida's website.
Brian Crisp: Process to Pieces
October 13, 2007 - 9:00am-1:00pm
Carman Trails Elementary
Brian Crisp is the Music Atelierista and specialist at The College School, an independent school for students ages 3-14 in St. Louis, Missouri. Brian is a native of North Carolina and holds degrees in English and music from Wake Forest University, Furman and the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. His master certificate in Orff Schulwerk is from the University of St. Thomas. He has worked in public and private schools in North Carolina and Kentucky as well as Minnesota, where he was one of the founding members of Schulfunk, an adult Orff Schulwerk based performance group. In addition to being the course director of Orff Schulwerk Teacher Training at Webster University, Brian teaches the University of Kentucky Orff Schulwerk Course. Besides a strong background in Orff Schulwerk, Brian also has studied the Reggio Emilia approach in the Infant-Toddler Centers and Preschools of Reggio Emilia, Italy. Brian presents workshops and conference sessions throughout the United States, Europe and Australia. He recently published an article with his colleague, Dr. Louise Cadwell, titled, "Weaving the Theories: Orff Schulwerk and the Reggio Approach." Brian is the educational consultant for MMB Music.
Crystal Estey & Mary McKenney: Chapter Sharing
February 16, 2008 - 9:00am-12:00pm
Carman Trails Elementary
Crystal Estey: Putting It Together - Exploring Musical Forms Using the Orff Process
In this workshop we will use singing, saying, dancing and playing to help students understand how music is structured, and to help students use these concepts to create their own music.
he recently wedded Crystal Estey is extremely excited to share some of the things she has learned with the amazing teachers that make up the St. Louis chapter of AOSA. Crystal has been a musician her entire life - learning to read the notes on the staff before learning to read English. She had the fortunate opportunity to attend an elementary school that embraced the ideas of Carl Orff and thus was exposed to the Schulwerk at an early age, and was raised with the concept of student centered learning. Throughout her education, she has been an active member in orchestra, band, choir, theater and dance. She has her bachelors in Music Education through Webster University and has completed her first two Levels there. She continues her education through our fantastic workshops here in St. Louis, by attending the national conferences in the fall, and through the fantastic kids she has a chance to work with every day!
Mary McKenney: Recorder Tips
Mary McKenney has been teaching elementary music for more-than-thirty-less-than-forty years. She has taught in both public and private schools in Indiana, Nebraska and Missouri, and has been teaching at Mary Institute and St. Louis Country Day School for 20 years. She graduated from Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana (and yes, she knew David Letterman, who also was a student there). Mary is a certified Orff Schulwerk teacher, taking her certification levels at both Webster University and George Mason University in Virginia. She has been playing the recorder for most of her life, and has performed with the St. Louis Early Music Band and the Westminster Consort.
Susan Ramsay: Moving Towards Creativity - Singing Games for Upper Elementary and Creative Movement for Beginners
March 8, 2008 - 9:00am-1:00pm
Carman Trails Elementary
Giving children the opportunity for creative choices is a challenging aspect of classroom teaching, especially when movement is involved. However, improvisation and creativity are vital to musical expression. This workshop will include a potpourri of musical activities, including singing games, traditional dances and listening lessons, but with a creative twist. Most activities will have a structured movement (game or dance) and an alternate expression of the music in which students make creative choices. A repertoire of singing games from America and several world cultures will be shared, with an emphasis on games to meet the challenge and interest of upper elementary students.
Susan Ramsay is a music specialist at Franklin Elementary School in Franklin , Tennessee . Franklin Elementary has been recognized as an Arts Honors School by the Tennessee Arts Commission, and Susan has received the Award of Recognition for Outstanding Teaching in the Humanities from the Tennessee Humanities Council. She has received National Board Certification in Music. She hold degrees from Peabody College and Middle Tennessee State University . Susan has obtained Orff certification from the University of Memphis and Kodaly certification from Belmont University .
Active in professional organizations, Susan is Past President of the Middle Tennessee Orff Schulwerk Association, and the Middle Tennessee Elementary Music Educators Association. She has served as regional representative on the National Board of Trustees for AOSA. Susan is an active presenter for music and classroom teachers, and has presented at Orff and Kodaly national conferences and for National MENC. She complements this with an active schedule of performances as a storyteller and as a musician.
Matt McCoy: More Than Supplemental - The Music of Gunild Keetman
April 19, 2008 - 9:00am-1:00pm
Carman Trails Elementary
Gunild Keetman was Orff's collaborator in creating the approach we know as Orff Schulwerk. While her name is often not as well known as Orff's, her influence is nevertheless present throughout the music found in the Music for Children volumes and supplements. Using many of her compositions as a starting point, workshop participants will experience how a simple piece can be utilized and often transformed for use in everyday lessons and/or performances. Be sure to wear comfortable clothing and don't forget your soprano recorder.
Matt McCoy is the Lower School music teacher at the Potomac School in McLean , Virginia . Prior to his time at Potomac, he worked with children for over fifteen years in both public and independent schools in Maryland, Arizona , and Washington , D.C. Additionally, Matt is the assistant director and a faculty member with the Orff Schulwerk Teacher Training course at George Mason University in Fairfax , Virginia ; and recently helped to start a levels program at the Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore, Maryland. As a clinician specializing in Orff process, Matt has presented at several AOSA National conferences and at local chapter meetings across the United States .




