ACEMM Communications Team

Casey Goryeb, Co-Director

Casey Goryeb is the Communications Co-Director for ACEMM. She is currently the Pre-K through 5th Grade Music Teacher, 5th Grade Chorus Director, and 4th and 5th Grade Community Choir Director at both Catherine A. Dwyer and Dennis B. O’Brien Elementary Schools in Rockaway Township, NJ.

She attended Lebanon Valley College where she received a Bachelor of Science in Music Education and  Bachelor of the Arts in Music (Flute Performance). Casey then earned a Master’s Degree in Educational Leadership Instruction from The College of New Jersey. She received her Orff Schulwerk Certification and completed the Orff Curriculum Course through The University of the Arts, and The Master Class in Orff Schulwerk through George Mason University.

An active member of her local chapter, Casey has served on the Executive Board as Treasurer and Newsletter Editor and is currently the Vice President of the Northern New Jersey Orff Schulwerk Association (NNJOSA). She is also is a member and clinician for the New Jersey School Music Association (NJSMA) Elementary Music Division. In her spare time, Casey performs as a vocalist and ukulele player in the duo, The Two Ukes.

Lisa M. Sempsey, Co-Director

Lisa Sempsey graduated with honors from Millersville University of Pennsylvania with a Bachelors of Science in Music Education in May 2001. She completed her Kodály Levels through West Chester University of Pennsylvania and New England Conservatory.  She has also completed her Orff-Schulwerk Levels through the University of the Arts in collaboration with Villanova University’s graduate summer music education programs and George Mason University. Lisa also holds a master’s degree in Leadership for Teaching and Learning from Millersville University.

Lisa is a clinician and workshop presenter who loves to share and collaborate with her colleagues.  She has presented workshops and sessions covering topics including classroom management, choral reading sessions, technology in the music classroom, movement and music curricular connections, Kodaly Pedagogy in the modern elementary music class, curriculum development and lesson planning, and Orff-Schulwerk elements in K-6 music classes.

Lisa has taught kindergarten through sixth grade general music, elementary choruses, as well as elementary and middle school strings in Lower Dauphin and Conestoga Valley School Districts, as well as been the Artistic Director and Prelude Choir Director for the Children’s Choir of Lancaster from 2005-2012.  Currently, Lisa teaches kindergarten through sixth grade general music, chorus, and Orff, Drum & Strum Ensemble in Columbia Borough School District. She also serves as the K-12 Art & Music Curriculum Coordinator for the district.  

Lisa lives in Lititz with her husband and son, enjoys cooking and baking, spending time with her family, and generally taxiing around her teenage son. 

Becky Burdett

 

Becky Burdett currently teaches grades K-4 at the Abington Heights School District. Her goal is for each student to be joyful in the act of making, expressing, and creating music.  Her classroom pedagogy blends together the elemental patterns and movement basis of Orff-Schulwerk with the vocabulary of patterns presented in the Kodály method; she is certified in both approaches. Becky believes that students can be capable musicians when allowed the guided freedom to explore all areas of musicianship.

She is an active member of several music education organizations: AOSA, PAOSA, PMEA and NAfME. Becky was the the Boutique Chair for the National AOSA Conference in 2016. Currently she serves the Philadelphia chapter as Vice-President.

She has served as a clinician for local and state PMEA professional development, local Orff chapters, and the National AOSA Conference. She has humbly been named to the American Center for Elemental Music and Movement Roster of Excellence.

In addition to her active role as a school educator, Becky also accompanies both soloists and choirs. Becky conducts two of the youth choirs of the Choral Society of Northeast Pennsylvania. Summer teaching includes the Performing Arts Institute, and the Pocono Mountain Music Festival Camp.

Ardith Collins

 

 

Ardith Collins teaches string orchestra and general music at Columbia Grammar and Preparatory School in New York City, and is adjunct faculty at Montclair State University Cali School of Music. Ardith has completed both Orff Schulwerk and Kodály certifications, and was the 2014 ACEMM Beacon Scholar.

Ardith serves as Vice President of the Northern New Jersey Orff Schulwerk Association (NNJOSA), and is a member of PAOSA, NJMEA, NYSSMA, OAKE, and AOSA. She performs with the MSU Balkan Ensemble, is a folk dance and rounds enthusiast, and is an active writer and workshop presenter.

Ardith serves as content curator and editor on the ACEMM Communications Team.

Donna Fleetwood

Donna Fleetwood is the Director of the Orff Schulwerk Certification Program at George Mason University where she completed her studies. She has also taught in Orff Certification courses throughout the U.S.

Donna has teaching experience at the Bilingual Montessori School of Paris, the Oak Knoll School in New Jersey, St. Albans School for Boys in D.C., and 23 years in the public schools of Prince William County, VA.

An active American Orff-Schulwerk Association national conference and chapter presenter, Donna has presented internationally in France, the U.K., Hong Kong and South Korea, and completed studies at the Orff Institute in Salzburg, Austria. She served nationally on AOSA’s Board of Trustees and has chaired AOSA’s International Outreach Committee, as well as the Curriculum Oversight and Review Subcommittee (CORS). She has written for the Orff ECHO, Reverberations and the AOSA blog, Sharing Wisdom. Locally, Donna served as president of the Middle Atlantic Chapter– AOSA.

She currently resides in Central Virginia where she enjoys (for the most part) the renovation process of an old tavern where she hopes her family and friends will be able to gather.

Crystal Pridmore

Crystal Pridmore has been teaching music for 12 years as a private voice instructor, secondary choir director, early childhood music specialist, and PreK-8 general music teacher.

She currently runs the general music, choral, and strings program for PreK-6th grade students at Finney Elementary School.

She holds a BA in Music Education and MA in Teaching from Point Loma Nazarene University, and California Single Subject Teaching Credential in Music. She proudly serves as a member of the MUSICALumni Auxiliary board for her alma mater. She actively serves throughout the community as a singer and choir member, and frequently collaborates with other musicians in various capacities.

In addition, Crystal has completed level certification in Orff-Schulwerk, and serves as the San Diego American Orff Schulwerk Association Chapter Vice President