PAUL WELLER - LEVEL 1 PEDAGOGY

Paul Weller has been teaching elemental movement and music for more than 20 years to grades K-5. He earned a B.A. from St. Olaf College, M.A. in Education from Saint Mary’s University and Orff Schulwerk Levels training at University of St. Thomas. He has taught workshops locally, nationally, has presented numerous times at the AOSA national conference, and is an Orff Level I and II teacher trainer. Paul has a unique teaching style that blends the best of Orff Schulwerk process and Kodaly sequential literacy training.

dan gullick - Level 1 pedagogy

Dan Gullick teaches kindergarten through fifth grade music at Liberty Ridge Elementary, part of ISD 833, in Woodbury, Minnesota. He co-directs a fourth and fifth grade extra curricular choir and has founded a fourth and fifth grade Orff ensemble at his school. He holds a BA in music from Luther College and an MA in music education with an emphasis in Orff Schulwerk from the University of St. Thomas. He is the department leader for elementary music teachers in ISD 833 for which he develops and presents professional development. He has taught Orff Level 1 basic pedagogy at North Dakota State University and Lakeland University. Dan is a past president of Minnesota Orff, is a member of the National Board of Trustees for AOSA as a region one Trustee, and is an AOSA approved teacher educator.

DRUE BULLINGTON - LEVEL 2 PEDAGOGY

Drue Bullington teaches elemental music and movement at Brownstown Elementary School in Conestoga Valley School District in Lancaster, PA. Bullington is twice a graduate of West Chester University of Pennsylvania where he received a B.S. in Music Education and a M.M. in Music Education with a certification in Orff Schulwerk. Drue holds a second master’s degree from Wilkes University in Online Teaching and Learning with an Online Educator’s Certificate of Endorsement from the State of Pennsylvania. He has also participated in several advanced Orff Schulwerk courses and an apprenticeship program in Orff Schulwerk at George Mason University.
Drue has taught in several Orff Schulwerk Levels Certification programs around the U.S. and offers numerous professional development and workshop sessions on elemental music and movement through the Orff Schulwerk Approach, elemental music and movement applications in the classroom, incorporating technology, and integrating the soprano ukulele into the K-12 music classroom. Drue serves as President of the Board of Directors of the American Center for Elemental Music and Movement.

David Thaxton - LEVEL 3 PEDAGOGY

David Thaxton is from Sparks, Nevada where he is currently in his 28th year teaching Elementary music to pre-K through 6 th grade. He holds a B.M.E. Degree from the University of Northern Colorado, and an M.M. from Eastern Washington University and is an AOSA certified teacher trainer for Orff Level I, II, and III pedagogy and Level I and II recorder. David teaches Summer Courses and presents workshops and clinics throughout the country.

David is Past President of the Sierra Nevada Chapter of AOSA and is co-founder of the Sierra Nevada Orff Festival. At the national level, he has served on the Editorial Board of The Echo Journal of the American Orff Schulwerk Association and the monthly online publication, Reverberations. He is currently the Treasurer for the American Center for Elemental Music and Movement and is the Creative Director and Lead Clinician for the Four Corners Young Musicians Summer Camp in Durango, Colorado.

David’s book “Making Tracks: Recorder Explorations, Creations and Improvisations” published through Sweet Pipes is used in elementary music classrooms across the country as an improvisatory approach to recorder instruction.

FAUNA WOOLFE - RECORDER

Fauna Woolfe has taught elementary music for 26 years and currently teaches K-5 music at Woodburn Elementary in the Camas School District. She teaches recorder for levels courses and presents workshops nationally. She has presented for the AOSA National Conference and International Orff-Schulwerk Forum Salzburg conference, and has multiple articles published in the AOSA Reverberations. She was elected to the AOSA National Board of Trustees and will serve as a Region I Representative from July 2023 - 2026. She served on the International Sunday Sharing USA team, and is Past - President of Portland Orff. Fauna achieved National Board certification in 2003, 2013, and 2023 and facilitated National Board cohorts to support teachers through the certification process from 2005-2013. Fauna received her Bachelor of Music in Music Education from the University of Oregon, where she also studied saxophone performance. She received her Masters in Education from Lesley University with an emphasis in Arts Integration, and took her Orff Levels at Seattle Pacific University, The San Francisco Orff Course, and the UNLV Orff course.

Fauna Woolfe founded the Portland Orff Course in 2018 and is the Course Director.

Kate Bright - Recorder

Kate Bright is a music teacher for the West Shore School District, where she teaches approximately 700 students from kindergarten thru fifth grade. She received her Orff Schulwerk certification at the Philadelphia University of the Arts in 2010 and, in August of 2021, completed her Master’s of Kodaly Music Education at the American Kodaly Institute. She has presented at Orff chapters around the country and at the American Orff Schulwerk Association’s National Conference. In 2015, she received the Spotlight Award from the American Center for Elemental Music and Movement, and in 2017 she received her school’s first-ever Staff Member of the Year award. In her community, Kate also directs the Hummelstown Community Singers. She currently serves as president of the Greater Baltimore Area Orff and secretary of ACEMM. Kate also published her first book, Just Like the Moon, this past summer through F-flat Books. In her spare time, Kate runs the Elemental Musical Adventures website and Facebook group, where each day she posts a new challenge for members to complete or ponder.

MATTHEW STENSRUD - MOVEMENT

Matthew Stensrud (MM, George Mason University; BM, University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music) teaches pre-kindergarten through fourth grade general music and movement at Sidwell Friends Lower School in Washington, DC. He completed his Orff Schulwerk certification at the San Francisco International Orff Course in 2013 and is an Orff Schulwerk Certified Teacher Educator of Movement, currently teaching at the Northern New Jersey Orff Course in Wayne, NJ and here with Portland Orff. Matthew serves as President of the Middle Atlantic Chapter of AOSA and serves on the Editorial Board of The Orff Echo, the quarterly publication of AOSA. He was also a Key Content Contributor to the book, Responsive Classroom for Music, Art, PE, and Other Special Areas. He was Teacher of the Year in 2017 and recognized with the Spotlight Award by the American Center for Elemental Music and Movement in Summer 2017. He lives with his husband in Washington. DC. You can find Matthew on social media @MisterSOrff on Facebook and Instagram, as well as on his YouTube page, or at www.mistersorff.com.

Stephanie Holtman - Levels Logistical Director

Stephanie Holtman has taught elementary music in Wisconsin, Washington, and Internationally. She earned her B.M. in Music Education from the University of Dayton, and a M.Ed. from Oregon State University. She is a Nationally Board Certified Teacher in Early and Middle Childhood Music, and currently teaches K-5 Music in the Evergreen School District in Vancouver, Washington. Stephanie studied her Orff levels at The University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, Baker University in Kansas, and with the Portland Orff Course. Stephanie is the Logistical Director for the Portland Orff Course.