Ms. Smith teaches pre-K through 8th-grade music as well as percussion ensemble and Orff ensemble at Saint James Catholic School. 

In the summer of 2020, Ms. Smith was published in The Orff Echo, a quarterly journal from The American Orff-Schulwerk Association, an organization of educators dedicated to the creative music and movement approach developed by Carl Orff and Gunlid Keetman.

Her article titled, Integrating Steel Drums with the Orff Schulwerk Approach, details how her Orff Schulwerk training led her to find more ways to explore instruments, specifically the steel drum, and how she uses this approach in her classes at SJS. The Orff Schulwerk approach stresses the importance of providing instruments that require little effort to produce a high-quality sound, making the steel drums a perfect instrument to teach in her classes. Students can learn to play steel drums without the effort it takes to read music. It is also easy to teach any grade level, and she finds her students have fun and enjoy learning to play the steel drums. 

Ms. Smith noted in her article, “It is up to us to ensure they [students] leave the classroom feeling included, heard, interested, and most importantly, feeling like musicians. Let’s do everything possible to ensure they are enjoying themselves while learning and building self-esteem.”

Ms. Smith was also voted KMEA 4th District K-5 General Music Chair. She will be in charge of the All-District Treble Chorus and organizing Professional Development sessions.

Read the full article in The Orff Echo here.