A clinical practicum in Louisville Public Schools, as well as a year in Shelby-Rising City Public Schools revealed her love for collaboration and sense of community. She enjoyed sharing her students’ musical talents with not only her school through concerts and athletic event show cases, but members of the community as well with performances at local churches, senior centers, and the American Legion Center.
Erika Hiemstra is the current Vocal Music Director at Elkhorn Valley View Middle School in Elkhorn Public Schools. She also teaches private voice lessons at Crash, Bang, Boom, a local, private studio. Previously, she taught K-8 Vocal Music in Shelby-Rising City Public Schools. Erika holds a Bachelor of Music with a K-12 teaching certification from the University of Nebraska at Omaha as well as a level 1 certification in the Kodaly method, a specialized pedagogical approach to music teaching. She is currently working on a Master of Educational Leadership from the University of Nebraska at Omaha.
After Ashley and Erika graduated from the University of Nebraska at Omaha, they presented at the 2015 National Association for Music Education conference in Nashville, Tennessee alongside their college advisor, Melissa Berke. They shared their teaching experiences with collegiate members and other educators in order to improve current collegiate music education curriculum to better prepare first-year music teachers. The three often get together to collaborate and share new teaching ideas. They are also committed to the success of Crash Bang Boom. Erika is looking forward to serving the community as well as working with her best friend by providing voice lessons at Crash Bang Boom!