A new school year brings so many new faces. Like other new staff, Rebecca Shelton is joining our Lakeview community. This is her first year teaching at Lakeview High School, directing our choirs.
Although Shelton is new to Lakeview, she is very familiar with the Cortland community. She was a 2014 valedictorian at Maplewood High School. After graduating high school she went on to earn her Bachelor’s degree in music education from Youngstown State University in 2018.
Shelton claims, “I have no doubts that our choirs will continue to improve and provide amazing opportunities to our students. Being in a choir is much more than just a class to earn a fine arts credit.”
Shelton is no stranger when it comes to teaching music. After graduating in 2018, her first teaching position was in a Cleveland, Ohio charter school called Constellation Schools: Madison Community Elementary where she taught Kindergarten through 8th grade general music. She spent the last 3 years in Las Vegas, Nevada where she taught K-5 music, and was an athletic director at Mater Academy, Mountain Vista where she taught for three years before accepting her current position here at Lakeview. Entering her 7th year of teaching, she will be directing the 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th grade choirs as well as our HS Concert Choir and our auditioned group, the Madripops.
A 10th grade student in concert choir, Makayla Olsen conveyed her perspective on the choir environment, within Shelton’s classroom. Olsen mentions, “She is very positive.”
Shelton is highly looking forward to their first performance of the year, which will be from the Madripops choir before the Homecoming game on Friday, September 27th. She is also looking forward to their first big performance of the year, which will be held on Wednesday, October 23rd. The concert will feature the 8th grade choir, HS Concert Choir, and Madripops in collaboration with the Lakeview Jazz Bands.
Like Olsen, a 10th grade honors student, Malikai Banning also shared his thoughts on Shelton, “She is really nice to talk to, when you are talking to her you don’t have to be afraid of what you are going to say or what will happen after it’s been said. She is such a great teacher so far, and I can’t wait to have her for the rest of high school!”
The choral program is also hosting their first fundraiser, the annual patron drive where they contact local businesses and community members for donations to our choir program. All fundraisers will benefit all of our choirs in grades 5-12. They greatly appreciate any support they can get!
After asking Shelton if she was facing any challenges so far, she responded, “We are still working to rebuild our choral program in numbers in strength, but we are on our way!”
Many of Shelton’s students find her environment to be undeniably positive and her way of making music fun is excellent. Students also find her supportive and easy to talk to. They’ve said many great things about her, and are excited to have her as their choir teacher this year.
An 8th grade choir student, Meadow Vincent, said, “She is very nice and welcoming. She has a lot of patience and is very helpful when needed.”
After connecting with Shelton and a few of her students, it is clear that she has high hopes and expectations for the Lakeview choral programs. She is working on creating a stronger foundation in middle school, with the support and positivity of our high school groups. Her students can describe her as very loving and respectful, and extremely dedicated to leaving her mark on Lakeview.
Shelton is determined to have an amazing year here at Lakeview, as a new Bulldog!
