👏👏👏 Fantastic message from alum Amanda Sarles, who came to Eugene to speak to some of our music education students! Amanda graduated from uosomd in 2018 with her MM in Music Education and now teaches as Siuslaw Elementary School in Florence, Oregon. For her, teaching is a calling. It's something she has dedicated her life to and continuously strives to improve upon. That unwavering commitment has not gone unnoticed; at Oregon Music Education Association’s annual conference in January, she was awarded for her excellence! “It was an honor and validation that I am an excellent music teacher,” she said. “This was just a real honor.” As you can see from this video, she makes an active effort to introduce students to a diverse range of musicians with different genders, races, and abilities. She has also examined her curriculum for problematic content. “I have uncovered things that I have created and taught for years,” she acknowledged. “For example, a song in the curriculum has roo...