Spanish Fork music teacher honored with award

r Nebo School District’s Angela Harman was recently honored by the Utah Music Educators Association with the Superior Accomplishment Award.

Harman teaches orchestra at Spanish Fork Junior High School in Nebo School District where she has helped the orchestra program grow by over 440 percent. Harman is passionate about music education and is the founder of www.orchestraclassroom.com where she posts ideas and methods that she uses in her classroom.

Her recent books, “Be An Amazing Note-Reader” and “The True Beginning: Before the Method Book” have sold many copies worldwide through her website and her books are use to teach students in many countries. She has been contacted by string programs in Palestine and Costa Rica regarding the positive influence of her method on their students.

Since the SFJHS program has grown so much, there is constantly a need for additional school instruments. SFJHS has been fortunate to receive grants from the Nebo Education Association and the Classics For Kids Foundation to help purchase violas and cellos for students to rent from the school.

Harman frequently seeks out special opportunities for her students. In 2015, her program was selected for “The World We All Deserve Through Music” through which renowned Time for Three bassist Ranaan Meyer composed a piece for the Spanish Fork orchestra and visited in person to do a workshop with students. The Spanish Fork Junior High orchestra won the Give A Note Foundation/Radio Disney “Music In Our Schools” tour in 2016 which included an Ardy and a grant. Representatives from the Disney Channel visited Angela’s classroom and filmed a one-minute commercial promoting music education that aired on the Disney Channel in the summer of 2016.

Harman frequently shares her ideas with colleagues by presenting at professional development conferences. She presented sessions at the NAfME National Conference in 2015 and 2016 and the Utah Music Educators Association convention in 2017. She has been featured several times in NAfME’s “Music in a Minuet” blog and Teaching Music magazine. She has had articles published in the UMEA Journal and on the SmartMusic blog.