Sarah

Certified Tutor

Hello! My name is Sarah Foster, and I graduated in 2016 from the University of New Hampshire with my Bachelor of Music in Education. Once I graduated, I spent the next 5 years honing my skills as a director and educator.

The last few years of teaching have provided me with experience in the following:

-Collaborating with colleagues to create a solid, coherent, and inclusive district-wide music curriculum

-Working with colleagues and community members to organize concerts, fundraisers, pep band games, parades, field trips, ceremonies, festivals, auditions, and other performance opportunities for my students

-Directing high school marching bands, jazz bands, concert bands, jazz combos, chamber groups, and wind ensembles using varying levels of repertoire and teaching styles

-Arranging, transcribing, and composing music suitable to the diverse needs of my students and ensembles using a selection of music production software

-Working with financial advisors and administrators to improve budgetary conditions of the school music programs

-Teaching general music classes, including guitar, piano, music appreciation, music history, music theory and composition, and other performance-based classes

-Collaborating with community members and parents to form Music Boosters groups whose primary focus is advocating for and supporting our programs

-Collaborating with faculty and administration to create interdisciplinary instruction

-Performing in a variety of settings

-Providing private lessons after school to students in grades 4-12

-Working efficiently in a remote teaching environment using a variety of interactive teaching methods

I have a lot of passion and commitment toward teaching music, and I strive to provide a fun, challenging, supportive, engaging, and energetic environment for my students that encourages growth and self-sufficiency in the classroom and beyond. My students' mental, physical, and emotional well-being is something I try to prioritize by building good rapport and relationships in my classroom, and I work hard to reach a larger number of students by creating modified lesson plans and a variety of assessment strategies. I place my focus on adjusting my instruction to meet every individual's unique needs. Every student starts in a different place, works at a different pace, needs different things, and learns in different ways, and I work to meet each student where they are at.

In addition to focusing on individual improvement, teaching group ensembles has allowed me to share with my students the importance of prioritizing community, teamwork, and communication. I work to help my students understand that being part of an ensemble provides people with opportunities to exercise important life skills, inclusivity, teamwork, and social skills that transfer to their world outside of the classroom. Bringing awareness to that is important to me. I really love what I do, and I would love the opportunity to work with a community of people who share my values and work hard to provide students with an inspiring and valuable education.