Get to Know Mrs. Lucas
Music has been an important part of my life for as long as I can remember. Throughout my childhood, my dad would play the accordion or the guitar and sing to me and my younger brother. I started singing in choirs and studying the piano in elementary school, and by the time I got to high school I was singing in and accompanying the choirs. I continued my music studies as a college student at Southeast Missouri State University. One of the most memorable experiences for me was singing in Southeast's performance of Karl Orff's Carmina Burana. These unforgettable experiences shaped my love for music and my desire to share it with children.
My interest in music and teaching led me to pursue a degree in Music Education from Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, where I studied voice and piano and graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1995. I graduated summa cum laude with a Master of Arts degree in Education from Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Missouri, in 2007. I have completed Level I trainings in Kodaly and World Music Drumming and I'm fully certified in Orff Schulwerk, having completed all three levels of training. In addition, I've completed an apprenticeship to teach movement to music teachers as part of Orff Levels courses, and I'm an active member of the St. Louis chapter of the American Orff Schulwerk Association.
Before opening PPE as the first music teacher in 1998, I taught grade 7-12 vocal and choral music for three years in the Winfield R-IV district. I found my "home" teaching Elementary Music and it brings me true joy to share something that's been such a big part of my life with such great groups of kids.
In addition to teaching music, I have my own family to take care of, my husband, Todd, and two beautiful children, my son, Ian, and my daughter Meaghan. They keep me busy and we love the school breaks and snow days when we get to slow down and spend more time together. In addition to teaching music at school, I teach private piano lessons, and while music is my passion and my life, in my spare time I enjoy taking and teaching Zumba classes, figure skating, reading, scrapbooking, card making, and cross stitching. I love to bake and decorate birthday cakes just for fun.
Before opening PPE as the first music teacher in 1998, I taught grade 7-12 vocal and choral music for three years in the Winfield R-IV district. I found my "home" teaching Elementary Music and it brings me true joy to share something that's been such a big part of my life with such great groups of kids.
In addition to teaching music, I have my own family to take care of, my husband, Todd, and two beautiful children, my son, Ian, and my daughter Meaghan. They keep me busy and we love the school breaks and snow days when we get to slow down and spend more time together. In addition to teaching music at school, I teach private piano lessons, and while music is my passion and my life, in my spare time I enjoy taking and teaching Zumba classes, figure skating, reading, scrapbooking, card making, and cross stitching. I love to bake and decorate birthday cakes just for fun.
My Teaching Philosophy
I believe that music has intrinsic value and every child has a human need for music as a basis for knowing, experiencing, and understanding themselves and the world around them. Music encompasses many aspects of human life and the world around us. Just as reading and writing help to develop a child's ability to think and communicate, performing and creating music help to develop a child's ability to feel and sense. While music instruction brings with it a variety of non-musical benefits such as aiding cognition and academic ability, the study of music for its own sake is essential to the development of children into expressive, creative human beings. I firmly believe that active music-making is the most beneficial way for children to learn. Learning through play is a natural part of childhood that has been somewhat forgotten and the music class is the ideal medium for playful, meaningful learning activities that engage the child's heart, mind, and soul.
"Were it not for music, we might in these days say, the Beautiful is dead."
-Benjamin Disraeli
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Updated 5/12/2020 JL