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Cate Schmittle » Schmittle Bio

Schmittle Bio

Ms. Schmittle holds a masters degree in music education from University of Illinois and a bachelors from Temple University in Philadelphia with degrees in music education and Spanish language and literature. She is certified in all three levels of Orff Schulwurk. She is dedicated to public school education and arts integration. She has been teaching at Decatur since 2015. Her favorite way to teach music is through active music making and utilizing student created performances. When she is not teaching, she enjoys cooking, singing in many choirs in the city, and being outdoors.
Schmittle
Ms. Schmittle with some guitars donated by Little Kids Rock
 

Posts

Thank you to Jina Valentine for taking our fabulous show photos! You can find all the photos here. We are so grateful for all the families, students, and staff members who make our shows possible. 

Chicago Musical Pathways Auditions for 5th-11th Grades

Chicago Musical Pathways Initiative identifies and develops gifted and motivated orchestral students from underrepresented backgrounds for acceptance into top-tier conservatory, college, or university classical music programs in preparation for careers as professional musicians. Click the link to check out their flyer for more information! 

4th Grade Body Percussion Rounds

4th grade students practiced new 16th note rhythms by creating their own body percussion rounds in ABAC form. Students came up with their own themes and words for each rhythm, decided how to arrange and perform their compositions, and performed for their peers. This video shows one group practicing their Star Wars themed composition during class.
3rd Grade musicians have been learning about the blues! We have learned about where the blues came from, how Chicago affected the blues and how Chicago blues musician Muddy Waters influenced the music styles we hear today. Students are playing Blues on xylophones, learning to improvise, and will create their own performances for the winter show on January 30th. See you there! 

Visit each of the Essentials teachers during Report Card Pickup by dropping in to our spaces listed below.

PE (Cherry) - Gymnasium | [email protected]

Dance (Branch) - Dance Studio 101 | [email protected]

Music (Schmittle) - Music Room 114 | [email protected]

Art (Koreman) - Art Room 111 | [email protected]

Makerspace (Petropoulos) - Please reach out if a conference is needed | [email protected]

Latin (Loris) - Room 111 - [email protected] 

The Latin room will be occupied with voting, so you can find Ms. Loris in the Art room, 111. Ms. Branch and Ms. Schmittle will be working with students until 2:30pm. Ms. Petropoulos is conferencing with her homeroom so you can email for a conference for a different time. If you'd like to make an appointment for any of the Essentials teachers outside of the conference day, please send them an email. We look forward to connecting with you!

5th Grade Percussion Compositions

5th grade students ended their drumming and percussion unit by creating complementary rhythm compositions in small groups. Check out one class's final performance here!