This is my first blog entry. I am not sure where this is going but I will tell you a little about myself. I live in Southeast Iowa with my husband, 19 month old daughter and 2 cats Ludwig and Wolfgang. I am on a year leave of absence to stay home with my daughter. I taught middle school band for 12 years. I have a Bachelor of Music Education degree from the University of Northern Iowa and a Master of Arts degree in Bassoon Performance from the University of Iowa. I have played with the Waterloo/Cedar Falls, Dubuque, and Des Moines Symphonies and currently play with the Southeast Iowa Symphony Orchestra. I am not sure where my career is going as I was told recently that I will not be getting my band job back but instead have been reassigned to middle school vocal music. I have no training or experience teaching vocal music so I will probably resign. The state of Iowa gives a ridiculous certification of k-12 music to every music education graduate regardless of major and course of study. My major was Instrumental music education. All conducting and methods classes were either instrumental or vocal. I took only the instrumental classes so I should not be certified to teach vocal music. If I were to attempt to do the job it would be a great disservice to the students and the high school vocal music program besides the fact I would hate every minute of it. There are still many decisions to be made that will affect my employment next year so it still could work out okay.
I love staying home with my daughter. I wouldn't trade the time I have had for anything. Everyday she learns something new and it is very exciting. It is too bad I am being punished for taking this year off to be a mom.
