Laurie Zentz is the band director at Switzerland Point Middle School in Jacksonville, Florida, part of the St. Johns County School District. She has been a music educator since 1984 when she graduated magna cum laude from Valdosta State College (GA). At Valdosta State she received the "Most Outstanding Bandswoman" award and served as the first Drum Major of the Valdosta State "Blazin' Brigade" marching band.
She received her Masters Degree from Jacksonville University in 1993 summa cum laude, and completed Orff Schulwerk Level III Certification in 1996. In 2005 she achieved certification from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards in Early and Middle Childhood Music.
Laurie has taught all levels from Pre-K through the university level. She is a frequent presenter at music education conferences and workshops throughout the country. Most recently she presented sessions at music education conferences in Alabama and throughout Florida. She has also presented in California, New York City, Ohio, Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia. Her school performing groups have performed twice at the Florida Music Educators Conference - in 1996 and in 2009.
As an author, Laurie has been published in the leading journals for music education and has authored four method books on elementary music techniques: Junior Jam Session, Note Name Nonsense, Percussion Playalongs, and The Heart Chart. Her Heart Chart Rhythm System has been sold all over the world and has been adopted by several school districts as their primary music notation teaching tool.
As a performer, Laurie has been principal clarinetist for various orchestras, wind ensembles, and pit orchestras for many musical productions. She is a clarinetist in the First Coast Wind Ensemble, Jacksonville, FL.
Her professional affiliations are many, and in most of these organizations she has served as an officer. She is currently the Past-President and webmaster for the North Florida Orff Chapter. She has served as Chairman of her school's School Advisory Council, and on the Superintendent's Teacher Advisory Council.
Laurie has been honored by the National Endowment for the Arts and as a semi-finalist for Duval County's (FL) Teacher of the Year. In 2002 she and a colleague were named "Master Teacher Team of the Year" at the National Teacher Training Institute for infusing technology and the arts in lessons teaching math and science. In 2004 she was named the local "Wal-Mart Teacher of the Year". In 2005 she was selected as "Teacher of the Year" for Cunningham Creek Elementary. Her biography appears in the 2007 edition of "Who's Who Among American Women" and in the 2009 "Who's Who in the World". She received a $10,000 grant from the Airborne Teacher Trust Fund for her "Musical Playground Project" at Cunningham Creek Elementary. |
