Clinician Bios

(Left) MARY LEA CLARK worked as a music specialist in the Donges Bay Elementary School community from 2000 - 2018. Prior to her arrival at Donges Bay, she worked in the greater Milwaukee area beginning in 1990, teaching elementary and secondary music. Mary received her undergraduate degree in Music Education with piano emphasis from the University of Wisconsin - Oshkosh and Masters degree in Education from Mount Mary College. She was awarded the Beatrice M. Haggerty Scholarship for three consecutive semesters, and was granted the Gunild Keetman Assistance Fund Scholarship and completed her Orff-Schulwerk Level III teacher training at Mills College in San Francisco. In 2004 she was awarded the Elementary Outstanding Educator award in the Mequon-Thiensville School District.

In Mary's classroom, music class provides a total energizing, organic experience for her students. She believes in emphasizing process over product. As the process is refined, nurtured and expanded, the quality of the product improves and the students are both pleased and satisfied with the outcomes of their diligence. Her objective is to empower the children to have ownership of their creation, allowing time for reflection as part of the creative process. Sometimes during the journey it becomes essential to let go of "the plan" and allow children to take over their learning, resulting in a presence of promising new possibilities. Living with and learning to trust the natural process of change as it manifests itself allows her to embrace an exciting creative challenge.

Mary is past President of the Greater Milwaukee Orff Dimensions and was the Local Conference Chair of the 2009 AOSA Professional Development Conference held in Milwaukee. She is a member of the American Orff-Schulwerk Association, Wisconsin Music Educators Association and the Music Educators National Conference. Additionally, she worked many years as a freelance musician playing keyboards, singing and serving a musical director for a variety of performing venues. She has performed at the Stackner Cabaret, the Marcus Center of the Performing Arts and at Summerfest.

(Right) SAM CRUZ has had the great fortune of teaching students of the school district of Whitefish Bay about music since 2003. She teaches general music to grades K4-5th. Holding a B.F.A. in Music Education from UW-Milwaukee, and an M.A. in Education from Mount Mary College, Sam also has worked as an adjunct music professor and college liaison officer for Mount Mary College. She holds Levels III Orff-Schulwerk and was fortunate to study with Jos Wuytack through Boston University.

Sam is an active member of the Greater Milwaukee Orff Dimensions, and held multiple positions on the board throughout the years. Currently, Sam is on the board of the Whitefish Bay Education Foundation.

Sam has presented at local Orff and Suzuki workshops in the Midwest, and at state conventions in Wisconsin and Michigan.

In May 2012, Sam was awarded the Civic Music Association of Milwaukee's "General Music Teacher of the Year" award. In March 2016, she was awarded the prestigious Kohl Education Fellowship. In December 2018, Sam received her National Board certification in Music: Early/Middle Childhood.