Laurie Zentz is the music specialist at the award-winning Cunningham Creek Elementary 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.
Laurie has taught all levels from Pre-K through the university level. The majority of her experience is with elementary age students, although she also spent five years as a middle school band director and 3 years as an adjunct professor at Jacksonville University and University of North Florida. She directs the UpBeat Kids Orff Ensemble in the children's music ministry at Mandarin Presbyterian Church, also in Jacksonville.
She is a frequent presenter at music education conferences and workshops throughout the country. Most recently she presented sessions at music education conferences in California, New York City, Ohio, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia.
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.
As a performer, Laurie has been principal clarinetist for various orchestras, wind ensembles, and pit orchestras for many musical productions.
Her professional affiliations are many, and in most of these organizations she has served as an officer. She is currently the President and Webmaster for the North Florida Orff Chapter. She serves as Chairman of her school's School Advisory Council, and serves 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 recently received a $10,000 grant from the Airborne Teacher Trust Fund for her "Musical Playground Project" at Cunningham Creek Elementary. She also won a grant for her "Aloha, It's Ukulele Time" project, and spearheaded a used book drive that collected over 2200 books for the classroom libraries at her school. |
