Sligo Creek ES Teacher Named Distinguished Music Educator by Yale University

Teacher Mary Hochkeppel dances and sings with her students at Sligo Creek ES

Mary Hochkeppel gets to Sligo Creek Elementary School two hours early every morning. The first hour is for planning. The second is to coordinate the performing groups that voluntarily meet before school.

A music educator for more than 28 years, Hochkeppel is in her third year as music specialist and chorus and dance team director at Sligo Creek. She has a busy schedule: meeting before school for practice are 70 third graders on the Sun Catchers dance team, and 75 fourth and fifth graders who are members of the Solar Flares dance team. In addition, Hochkeppel directs a 200-student chorus and the All-Star Orff Ensemble percussion group, where 25 students learn to play drums, xylophones and metallophones.

With her commitment and creativity, it’s no surprise that Hochkeppel was recently selected as a Distinguished Music Educator and a delegate to the 2009 Symposium on Music in School at Yale University. She is one of 50 winners in the U.S. who will attend the June 10–11 event, which will feature dinners and workshops with other music educators, including a session exploring El Sistema, Venezuela’s unique music education system.

“You never stop learning,” Hochkeppel says. “I’m excited about the opportunity to share. I feel like a sponge; I want to soak it all up.”

She is certified to teach the Orff Approach to music education, which encompasses several facets of art into each lesson. So in her classroom, students sing, move, play instruments, listen, create and read. “When you do all those skills in one music class, there is variety in the lesson and it motivates the students,” she says. “Students retain the concepts much better.”

Sligo Creek music 

 

Last Updated: 4/21/2009