This year, three district high schools have added a unified percussion ensemble program to their offerings and one high school has added it as a club. 

Mead High School (MHS) paved the way for other programs by starting their unified percussion ensemble four years ago. Former Mead High School Band Director, Chad Lemons, developed the course and piloted it during the ’19-’20 school year and it has been an integral part of their band program ever since. 

This year, MHS has 13 students in the Unified Percussion Ensemble and eight mentors. The program’s vision and mission is to provide a performance-based music ensemble for students in the exceptional learning program. The Unified Percussion Ensemble class at MHS is a collaboration between students, peer mentors, and special education paraprofessionals. The class is not only about music, but also about strengthening life skills. “We take some time every day to work on healthy activities, like chair yoga, and life skills, like identifying our right and left sides. All of these activities are helpful to our students’ development, but also prepare them to start drumming,” said Abby Koehler, Mead HS band director.   

Silver Creek High School started their own Unified Percussion Ensemble this year and has 15 students enrolled in the class. The class is co-taught by student mentors who are also enrolled in band, choir, and orchestra classes at the school. During class, students work on music for performances, but also utilize rhythm games and other activities to add variety to the day. “We are working on music, executive functioning skills and the mentor students help with lesson planning and preparation. While I am in the room, there is a significant amount of time where I’m observing in the periphery while the students work together to get their music learned,” said Bill Legg, band director at Silver Creek High School. 

The Unified Percussion Ensemble class at Skyline High School currently has eight students and is not only centered around drumming and percussion, but also about exploring music through different avenues. In class, students experience music through dancing, listening to music, watching videos, and through a lot of drumming. While the class is primarily centered around drumming and percussion, topics such as music history, theory and composition are also explored throughout the year. “Students with a wide variety of abilities and interests can share a common goal in this class, which is to grow as musicians and to perform for our community,” said Marya Haugland, Skyline High School band director. 

Frederick High School has revamped their unified program to focus on unified percussion. For the past two years, the class has been offered as a unified modern band, where students learn to play guitar, bass, drums, and sing. This year students are learning percussion instruments and are working on marching percussion instruments. There are currently eight students in the class. They will be performing at a halftime performance at one of their football games this fall. 

Additionally, Longmont High School started a Unified Percussion Ensemble club this year. The handful of students meet during the school day during music classes. While the ensemble is not its own class yet, it could be in the future. David Merrill, LHS band director said he’s unsure if they will change it from a club to a class, but envisions it would be neat if they did.

All unified percussion ensembles will come together at Everly Montgomery Field on Monday, October 10 at 6pm for a combined performance at this year’s St. Vrain Band Night. Click here to view the complete lineup. 

St. Vrain Valley Schools Special Education Department welcomes Meredith Pogonyi as one of their new assistant directors of special education. Pogonyi will support Erie and Frederick feeders K-8.

Pogonyi comes to St. Vrain from Adams 12 where she worked for over 20 years. She served in various roles as an affective needs teacher, behavior specialist, student support services coordinator, and most recently, as an early childhood special education coordinator. 

Her educational background consists of earning her Bachelor of Arts in psychology, Masters in special education and teaching, and Director of Special Education license from the University of Northern Colorado. She earned her Administration (Principal) license from the University of Denver. 

Pogonyi enjoys working in the education field because it allows her to think outside the box to meet the needs of students, so they can become their best selves. She hopes to find the right balance to support staff and families to bring the most effective and productive programming for our students. 

A few years ago, Pogoyni received an award from her district’s special education advocacy group for making school-to-home and home-to-school connections a driving force in schools. This is a passion area of hers, so earning this award was a highlight for her career. “Partnership between school and home is essential for students to be successful in our schools and beyond,” Pogoyni said. 

In her free time, Pogonyi enjoys spending time with her family. She has three children, Avery who is in 6th grade, and twin boys, Noah and Henry, who are in 2nd grade. They enjoy family ski trips, baseball and soccer. They love to travel and learn about new cultures and people. 

SWAP is collaborating with Longmont HS special education teachers on their new Transition to Independence class for 11th and 12th grade students.

There are currently 15 students enrolled in the year-long class designed for 11th and 12th grade students on an Individualized Education Plan (IEP), who need additional instruction and practice in pre-employment skills, functional independent living skills, and post-secondary readiness skills. Students will receive instruction on a variety of topics, including: advocacy, career exploration, professionalism, workplace readiness skills, financial literacy, and post-secondary exploration. Swap has assisted by providing information on the course content for the lesson plans and assignments.

Generally, students receive career information in Longmont High School’s Personal Financial Literacy class, but it is condensed into one unit. The Transition to Independence class was created because special education students need more explicit instruction on topics and need more time to explore and do research on topics. “Our students need to visualize and experience in order to make decisions,” said Nicole Weiss, special education teacher at Longmont High School. 

Special education students should enroll in the class if they need help with post-secondary planning since this class can be more individualized than a general education class could be. 

St. Vrain Valley School District is pleased to welcome Benjamin Yamato to the district as an assistant director of special education. Yamato will support Lyons, Mead and Skyline feeders K-8. 

Yamato earned his Bachelor of Arts in psychology from the University of Michigan Ann Arbor. He then went to the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY and received his Associate of Occupational Studies (AOS) in culinary arts. After he turned thirty, he went back to graduate school at University of Colorado-Denver and obtained his educational specialist degree in school psychology. Finally, he obtained his principal license through the Ritchie program at The University of Denver.

Yamato brings 12 years of experience in public education. He most recently worked at Adams 12 Five Star Schools as a special education coordinator, where he supported Child Find and Early Childhood Education. Prior to that role, he was the district mental health specialist, supporting psychologists and social workers. 

His professional journey in education began as a school psychologist in a diverse elementary school where he fell in love with partnering with families and teams. “From my first days as a school psychologist, I’ve loved collaborating with teams who are seeking creative ways to support students who are experiencing barriers in their learning. In these situations, seeking different perspectives always leads to better outcomes, and I love hearing passionate professionals share their particular lens with the larger group,” Yamato shared. 

Some of the skills Yamato hopes to bring to his new position is to embrace norms of collaboration that value listening and pausing. “I see so much great work being done to support students and families, and I hope to bring a systems approach to solving problems that increases efficiency and our capacity to flexibly support diverse student needs. Nothing makes me happier than to be a part of discussions that take difficult situations and focus on reducing barriers to student learning,” Yamato said. 

Yamato sees the importance of having an equity driven approach to problem-solving. “In my past role as special education coordinator in Child Find, we created systems that would reduce barriers between preschool-aged students and high-quality education.  These included a sliding scale for tuition, increased responsiveness and communication for families in the free Colorado Preschool Program, and timely evaluation and placement processes in Child Find.”

In addition to his background in education, Yamato is an experienced chef who specialized in French and Indian cuisine. He spent his twenties as a chef in Michigan, New York, France, and Colorado, and has benefited from the lessons of those restaurant days. “It’s important to get to know and value everyone in the system. From the dishwasher to the owner, every person is a key part of the system,” Yamato said. 

Outside of work, Yamato enjoys spending time with his wife, Janie, and their two boys (Wilson, 8 and Hobbes, 6). Yamato and his family make the most of the Colorado outdoors by camping in the summertime at their favorite destination in Ouray in the San Juan Mountains, and skiing in the winter in Breckenridge. He also loves cooking with his family and traveling to Mexico.

St. Vrain Valley Schools Education Foundation put on another successful event at the 37th Annual Sunrise Stampede that took place on August 13. 

Over 730 participants, young and old, hit the pavement for a 5k Race or 1 Mile Fun Run to raise funds for the Special Education Teacher Innovation Grants.

This year’s event had a 20 percent increase in participants and raised over $27K. All net proceeds from the Sunrise Stampede support Teacher Innovation Grants for students with special needs in St. Vrain Valley Schools. Some of the projects funded in the past have included flexible seating, sensory tables for autism classrooms, unified percussion ensemble, and technology learning tools. 

To be considered for a 2022 Teacher Innovation Grant, St. Vrain Valley School District teachers should fill out the online application here by September 28, 2022.