Gail Carpenter-Johnson

Gail R. Carpenter-Johnson (aka Mrs. CJ) joined the Westside Community School District in 2003. She is currently in her twenty-first year in Westside, and her twenty-eighth year overall teaching. She has taught 5th and 6th grade Band at all ten district elementary schools, as well as strings at Prairie Lane, Sunset Hills and Westbrook. She is currently serving as the Department Chair for the Elementary Instrumental Music team. Her previous teaching positions include directing the 6th - 12th grade band for Conestoga Public Schools, and 5th - 8th grade Band and Orchestra for Omaha Public Schools. As a professional free-lance musician, Mrs. CJ performs for local musical theaters, churches, and commission projects within the Omaha-metro area. She has traveled extensively across Europe and the United States with a variety of ensembles. As an active adjudicator and clinician, Mrs. CJ continues to work with students at all grade levels. She is an active freelance performer, private flute teacher, guest clinician, speaker, and presenter across the state. Mrs. CJ graduated from the University of Nebraska at Omaha in 1996 with her Bachelor of Music Degree and earned her Master of Music Degree in 2001 from the same institution. She is a member of the National Association for Music Education (NAfME), Nebraska Music Educators Association (NMEA), Nebraska State Bandmasters Association (NSBA), Westside Education Association (WEA), and the Nebraska State Education Association (NSEA). Mrs. CJ is a PDK Showcase Teacher (2012), a recipient of the NSBA Distinguished Service Award (2005) and the NSBA Jack R. Snyder Young Band Director Award (2001). In 2016, she was awarded the NSBA Duane E. Johnson Distinguished Service Award for her decade long work as coordinator of the NSBA Young Directors Boot Camp, a program designed to mentor teachers in their first years of teaching. In 2018, she was inducted into the Alpha Theta chapter of Phi Beta Mu, the International School Bandmaster Fraternity. Mrs. Carpenter-Johnson is 2022 inductee into Who’s Who In America and is currently serving on the NMEA Executive Board as the Director of Middle Level/Junior High Affairs. Band is a family affair for the Johnson clan - her husband, Chris, is a fellow band director and the Fine Arts Curriculum Chair for Elkhorn Public Schools, and both her children are active WHS and WMS Band members.