Directors

Mrs. Julie Elder Wood has been the choral director at Anderson High School since the 2010-2011 school year. She was the first director in the newly consolidated high school after Anderson Community Schools closed Highland High School. Knowing that she would be teaching students from both show choir programs she decided to rename both competitive show choirs. Thus the 2011 season was the first season for Vocal Elegance, the women’s show choir, and Vocal Infusion, the mixed show choir.

Mrs. Wood is originally from Des Moines, Iowa where the bulk of her family still lives. She transferred to Anderson University from which she graduated with a Bachelor’s in Vocal Performance. After starting a family she returned to Anderson University to earn the credits needed to apply for a teaching license.

Not only has Mrs. Wood taught high school but she has also spent 7 years at the middle school choral level and 2 years in the elementary general music classroom. However, this teaching assignment has been her favorite. She enjoys the challenges and creativity of show choir and making musical memories in all her choirs. However what she enjoys the most is seeing her students grow and mature over the 4 years in her classroom. It is amazing to watch a shy and insecure student break out into someone completely different on and off the stage.

When not at school with her students which is really very rare, Mrs. Wood can be found with her husband David and her fur baby Phoebe. She is also the mother of 4 amazing grown children, Emily, Jordan, Ashlen and Brielle. She loves to travel especially to places that include water. Her favorite place to be is at her family’s lake home in Iowa with her husband and kids, her mom and brother and his family.

Miss Hannah Olson is a first-year teacher, having just graduated in May of 2017 from Ball State University. While working toward her degree in Vocal and General Music Education, Miss Olson had the many opportunities, including Student Teaching, to do field work at Anderson High School with Mrs. Wood. It was then that she realized she would like to continue working with the wonderful staff and students of this choral program.

In Muncie, Miss Olson is also the Church Administrator for High Street United Methodist Church. In her time at High Street, she has also acted as the Choral Scholar, Nursery Attendant, and Music Director of the Youth Choir. She has since consolidated her positions to just Administrator.

Miss Olson is originally from the small town of Peru, Indiana. She now lives in Muncie with her two great friends and four BEAUTIFUL cat babes, Franz Schubert, Norma Jean, Wicket the Ewok, and Darla. In her *very little* free time, she loves to be with her family and cats, travel, cook, and sing show tunes.

Now that she is back at AHS permanently, Miss Olson is excited to watch each of the choirs grow as ensembles while guiding and mentoring the students through music. She is not just a choir teacher, but an educator who fosters creativity while allowing self-expression, boosts self-confidence while teaching self-discipline, exalts the human spirit while heightening school spirit, and she develops abstract thinking, problem solving, and higher-order thinking skills while enhancing the quality of life. She does this all through music and the love of her students.