Stephen Reid

Music Education Specialist

3404 Albert St.
Halifax, NS
Canada
B3K 3N2
StephenMReid@hotmail.com
mrreidsite.weebly.com
Skype: stevereid2016

Certification and Education______________________________________________

2009
-

Nova Scotia Department of Education

Certified as a Secondary Music/Science teacher, April 2009.
Identification #642199

Acadia University
Graduated with a BEd secondary (Music and Science), May
2009.

Acadia University
Graduated with a BA in Music with Minor in Biology, May
2004.

2007 to 2009

1999 to 2004

1995 to 1999
-

Cobequid Educational Centre

Graduated with High School Diploma, June 1998.

Recent Work Experience ____________________________________

Sept. 2012 to August 2015

West Hants Middle School- Teacher

- Gathering and implementing of curriculum for grades 7,8,
and 9. Courses taught include Math 7, Healthy Living 7,
Healthy Living 8, Art 9, Music 7, Music 8, Music 9, and
Learning Centre Music.

Sept. 2010 to August 2012

Coldbrook and District School- Teacher

- Gathering and implementing of curriculum for Kindergarten
through Grade 8 Music.

Other Related Activities

2015
2012-2015
2014
2013
2010-2012

Music For Everyone School, Luang Prabang: Volunteer Clinician/Teacher

WHMS Music Director
Run Without Borders Halifax: Volunteer Coordinator
Love For Gambia (NSGA): Support Personnel
CBDS Music Director

Ensemble Awards_____________________________________________
Annapolis Valley Music Festival

2015 WHMS Gr. 8 Band: Bronze

WHMS Gr. 7 Band: Silver
WHMS Jazz Band: Silver

2014 WHMS Gr. 8 Band: Silver

WHMS Gr. 7 Band: Bronze
WHMS Jazz Band: Gold

2013WHMS Gr. 8 Band: Silver

WHMS Gr. 7 Band: Silver
WHMS Jazz Band: Gold

2012 CBDS Gr. 7 Band: Silver

CBDS Gr. 6 Band: Silver
CBDS Jazz Band: Gold
CBDS Choir: Silver

2011 CBDS Gr. 7 Band: Silver

CBDS Gr. 6 Band: Silver
CBDS Jazz Band: Silver
CBDS Choir: Silver

2010 DRES/CRES Choir: Silver

Atlantic Festival of Music

2015 WHMS Concert Band: Silver

WHMS Gr. 9 Band: Silver

2013 WHMS Concert Band: Silver

WHMS Gr. 9 Band: Bronze

2014 WHMS Concert Band: Silver

WHMS Gr. 9 Band: Silver

2012 CBDS Gr. 8 Band: Gold

2011 CBDS Gr. 8 Band: Bronze

International Volunteering and Experience

July 2015 to Present- Northern through South East Asia
June through August 2013- Western and Southern Africa
July through August 2012- Mainland and Eastern Europe

References
Michael Landry
Former Principal, West Hants Middle School
1816 Bains Road, Canning, NS, Canada, B0P 1H0
michael.landry@avrsb.ca
Workxxxxxxxxxx
Mobilexxxxxxxxxx
Jean Corporon
Principal, Coldbrook and District School
2305 English Mountain Road, Coldbrook, NS, Canada, B4R 1B6
jean.corporon@avrsb.ca
Work: xxxxxxxxxxxx
Moblexxxxxxxxxx

Stephen Reid: Supporting Statement

01/29/2016
As an experienced and flexible educator, traveler, and
musician I am eager to find work with an international
school. I have been teaching music in a variety of settings
for over ten years, and travelled to many countries around
the world. A music teaching position at an international
school would bring together the main passions in my life:
my passions for teaching, for music, and travel.
I am currently on a leave of absence from my position at
West Hants Middle School in Nova Scotia, Canada. I have taken this leave to travel and explore
opportunities for employment abroad. My teaching career began with freelancing private guitar
lessons, and grew to directing and teaching public school instrumental music programs. For the
last three years of employment my main focus was running the West Hants Middle School music
program. My professional experience extends well beyond middle school music. For three of my
six years as a certified educator my work assignments also included elementary music, and during
my time at West Hants Middle School I taught sections of Gr. 7 Math, Gr. 7 and 8 Healthy
Living, and Gr. 9 Art. I believe that my professional experiences as a flexible educator make me a
valuable asset to your school community.
As a passionate and experienced music educator I have much to contribute. I have experience
directing a wide range of ensembles and organizing music trips, camps, clinics, concerts, and
other music related events. My ensembles have regularly been awarded Gold and Silver awards at
festivals. I have directed and led student concert bands, jazz bands, choirs, rock bands, recorder
ensembles, and guitar ensembles. My skill set and experience will allow me to contribute to and
build upon your music program.
My approach in the music classroom focuses on creativity and supporting students in finding their
own musical identity. I believe education should be about developing problem solving skills,
about students learning how to learn for themselves, and learning how to connect and interact
with the world around them. Music education does these things in a way that no other subject can.
By its nature music is an interdisciplinary subject that fosters emotional, intellectual, social, and
creative growth. It enables students to make personal connections with world cultures and
histories, to experience and express their own emotions and those of others.
I firmly believe in authentic learning experiences. Live music performances and demonstrations
should be incorporated on a regular basis. Students need to see, hear, experience, and create to
come to their best understanding. I aim for activities that students experience as both work and
play, activities that motivate them through personal gain and experience. In music instruction, it
can be a struggle to get students to practice and/or to practice well. The best way to motivate
these students is often to find the style of music and instruction that engages them, and build their

lessons around this. The best educators are able to make work be play; they get to know their
students and set them up for success through self motivation.
Students are engaged in a constantly changing technological world that has the potential to
influence every new class of students we encounter in a new way. I anticipate the needs of
students at any international school being as diverse as the family cultures and nationalities from
which they come. With such diversity, following one method or set of guidelines would not be in
the best interest of my students. I would strive for a classroom as dynamic and adaptable as the
world our students live in; with the goal of instilling problem solving skills and a sense of
individualism to serve them in whatever world it is that they will graduate into. Lessons should
encourage students to look for new solutions, teach them that their creativity and personal ways
of looking at things can lead to important new solutions. Creative and independent individuals
will make positive contributions to our world; conformed students who cannot think outside of
the box are more likely to perpetuate the negative issues of society. Creativity, flexibility, and
independent thought are essential skills to develop in our students.
Communication with students and parents/guardians should be clear and consistent. In addition to
phone calls, meetings, and emails; regular newsletters and my webpage mrreidsite.weebly.com
have played important roles in communicating with parents while running busy music programs.
At West Hants Middle School we also had a web portal where parents and students could log in
to track daily assessments. This setup enabled students, teachers, and parents to keep track of
progress, catch problems early, and as a team make adjustments as necessary. This team can be
critical to student success, as more people around them get communicating and involved in their
learning, the more value they place upon it. Frequent and diverse classroom assessment combined
with effective communication is important for student success.
Studies continue to show the value of music in education and personal well being. When I am
approached by a parent doubting the value of their childs music education, I often quote a study
where scientists put participants into an FMRI machine to study their brain activity as they
performed various tasks. When they placed musicians in the FMRI machine to perform music,
they found more of the brain lighting up than any other activity. A great video on music and the
brain that I have shared with both parents and fellow staff can be seen here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0JKCYZ8hng. Music is a deep-set and important part of
who we are as human beings. By scaffolding knowledge, skills, and developing work ethic,
students can succeed not just in making better music, but in building skills to make life better for
themselves and others. Music is an important component of a childs education, and of any
healthy school community.
International travels have brought me to numerous corners of the world such as Eastern Europe,
Western Africa, and North to South-East Asia. I have had the privilege of getting to know
amazing people from cultures across the globe. My goal is to combine the wealth of knowledge I
have built up through international travels with the career I have built on a passion for teaching
and music. The music related vacancy at your school has much potential to help me reach this
goal.