Music

Mrs. Stearns

“The Arts are not a Luxury.”, is one of Mrs. Stearns’ favorite quotes. On a weekly basis, students leave behind academics and technology for a short time and enjoy using their voices and being accompanied by Mrs. Stearns on the piano. Mrs. Stearns has been teaching at Howard since 2005, which is just a small amount of time considering her career as a music teacher spans over 30 years. Earning her Bachelor’s degree at Stanford University with a Major in English and a Minor in Music, she later continued her education with a Secondary Bachelor’s degree in Music and finally she received her Master’s Degree in Marriage and Family Therapy with an emphasis in Music Therapy. Except for her 2 adult children and the rest of her family, music is the center of her life and she share’s this enthusiasm and passion with the students. When asked what she likes about teaching at Howard, Mrs. Stearns says, “I love teaching children of all ages, they are so open, receptive and expressive and it’s a just a joy to hear them sing. As the students mature they become more self confident and poised and they take a lot of pride in their performances.” Throughout the year, Mrs. Stearns teaches Music Theory and Music History in addition to orchestrating the entire student body to produce our annual Holiday Performance and works with individual classes to produce our highly anticipated Spring Plays. “It’s a great source of pride to see these kids take the stage at the end of the year, they work so hard and they love being in front of a live audience”, says Mrs. Stearns. In addition to teaching at The Howard School, Mrs. Stearns also teaches private piano lessons and has participated in many solo piano and Chamber Music concerts over the years.