Greetings, students, parents, and friends! My name is Katie Traxler, and I am the music teacher at Gateway Elementary in Madison, TN. Gateway is a small, neighborhood school that is part of the Metro Nashville Public School system. In addition to my weekly Kindergarten through 5th grade music classes, I also teach a few ensembles like Chorus, Recorder Club, and Orff Ensemble, as well as after school keyboard classes. Committed to providing our students with interdisciplinary student-centered experiences, I work closely with other teachers in our building to maintain an arts-rich curriculum integrating music, movement, drama, and visual art with social studies, science, and language arts content across all grade levels.
I’m glad that you came to visit my website. There are different menus above depending on if you are visiting as a fellow educator, a Gateway Parent, or one of my many fabulous little musicians! A link to my YouTube channel can be found here and also at the upper right corner. You can see our work in action! Enjoy!
Thank You To SONOR Orff and Tim Henry- Our Instrument Fairy!
Gateway Owl Musicians would like to thank SONOR and Tim Henry for the generous donation of brand new barred instruments for our music class! We are so incredibly grateful for this opportunity to expand our music making. These instruments will be used by all of our musicians for years to come!
Yes We Can!
A few years ago, one of my 2nd grade classes, with the help of our dear friend Emily Eagen, wrote an amazing freedom song as part of the Musical Explorers program this year. Their song was chosen among many submissions to be featured at the A Time Like This concert in March. It was an unforgettable experience for these little musicians to sing THEIR SONG on stage with a band and a chorus for the whole world to hear their voices. As a teacher, it was the chance of a lifetime to be able to give them these memories. It was definitely one of the most gratifying moments of my career. Special thanks to our second grade teachers Suhna and Erica (and Ms. Corona) for their support extending this project into their classroom work.
Opportunities like this are what MUSIC EDUCATION is all about!
GIVING CHILDREN A VOICE and HELPING THEM TELL THEIR STORIES