I do not know why it did not occur to me to introduce myself to you sooner, but better late than never!  My name is Kristen Mahan and I am in the middle of my student teaching experience in the Minerva Local School District.  Some of you may have seen me at the Disney meeting this past Monday or the middle school band concert last month.  Mr. Maxey and Mrs. Miller are excellent teachers and mentors and I am learning a lot; your children are teaching me a lot as well.

I am a senior music education major from Malone University in Canton, OH.  Although I will be certified to teach all forms of music classes (general, vocal, and instrumental) to grades K-12, my heart belongs to band (particularly middle school).  The horn is my primary instrument and I am going to be the brass instructor for a summer music program in my hometown this June (www.wcsms.org).  After teaching at that summer music program, I hope to travel to Sienna, Italy with a group of music students from Malone to participate in summer music program.

I have been working with the bands in both the middle school and high school by conducting the ensembles, pulling students out of rehearsal for sectional work, and playing in the band alongside them.  Currently, I am spending most of my time with the Symphonic Band and we have spent a lot of time working on improving rhythm reading skills.  It is very rewarding to introduce new pieces of music to the students and to hear it start to come together, and I am very excited to present these pieces to you at our performance on Thursday, April 18^th at 7pm.