Music Room Beat
Meet Ms. Leah Richmond
It's very nice to meet you!
I am originally from the Chicagoland area in Illinois. However, I am familiar with the south as I have lived in Arkansas and Florida while pursuing my education. I must say that I am looking forward to sunny winters!
I was introduced to music when I was just an infant. My mom sang to me frequently and both of my parents played piano. They shared their love of music with my siblings and me and exposed us to many different types of music. There were always instruments available to play and we enjoyed singing together as a family.
I joined the band in fifth grade and was handed a trombone. I did not love my instrument at first. In fact, I didn't even like it. After hours of practice and hard work, I came to love my loud, brassy instrument. I carried it through high school marching bands, pep bands, jazz bands, concert bands and through college. From early in high school, I knew that I wanted to do something with music. I quickly settled on the idea of music education, as I wanted to share my passion with children. I earned my undergraduate degree from Florida College and I graduated in May of 2011 with a B.A. in Music with Trombone performance.
I furthered my education through the College of Education at Harding University. I graduated from Harding in December of 2013 with a teaching license and a Master of Arts in Teaching degree.
Upon graduation, I was put in touch with Dr. Moser, our Headmaster here at Mount Dora Bible, by one of my professors at Harding University. I am incredibly happy that I got such a wonderful opportunity to work here with the Bulldogs.
My desire is to share my love for music with your children and encourage them to develop their appreciation for this gift from God.
My Musical Objective
It is my belief that anyone can be a musician. Your students have enormous potential musically and it is my goal to help them achieve that potential.
I plan to provide them with all the tools they will need to succeed in my classroom and that will allow them to grow musically.
I hope that we can work together to provide them with the encouragement they need to perform well in Music class.
Additionally, I want to establish a positive working relationship with you, the parents and/or guardians of my students. I truly believe that communication is key to establishing this positive relationship, and so I encourage you to ask any questions that you might have for me about my classroom and teaching philosophy. I hope to meet you all and get to know you better during the school year.
Contact Information
Email: leah.richmond@chbs.org
Phone: (352) 383-2155
Grading Procedures
Students start with five points each day in Music. When a student acts out (ex. talking out of turn, not listening to instruction, etc.) in class, the student will be given two warnings. On the third time a student acts out, they will lose a point. Any additional misbehavior after the first two warnings and loss of the first point will result in losing another point. Losing all points in one day will result in a 0 for the day's behavior and participation grade.
However, students will have the opportunity to earn points back by correcting the behavior or going the extra mile to participate (asking questions, raising hand and answering questions, etc.).
At the end of the grading period, the students' point will be added up and graded based on a percentile ranking. The percentage and grade scale is listed below:
80-100% of points earned = Satisfactory
65-79% of points earned= Needs improvement
Less than 65% of points earned = Unsatisfactory
Music Productions and Parent Support
This list will allow me to email/text out notifications and newsletters to parents who are interested in helping with our school's Elementary Music productions.
I truly believe that with your parental support and aid, we can make this one of the best years for Mount Dora Bible's Elementary music program.