Ms. Turgeon and Mr. Patterson's 10 Year Anniversary
Wedding Renewal in Vegas with Elvis and friends!
We're on year 20 now!
Mary and Shelley on the Cat Tree
Ms. Brianne Turgeon has taught at SPARK since it opened in 2009, and taught at Morningside ES before SPARK was built. Here are some events we've performed at and some accolades we've earned:
- Georgia Music Educators Association In-Service Performance (2025)
- GMEA Large Group Performance Evaluation, overall Superior in Repertoire and Sight-Singing (2012-present)
- APS Equity Champion Awards Ceremony (2024)
- The Center for Civil and Human Rights Educators Day (2015-2019
- The High Museum Second Sunday (2019)
- Atlanta Families Award for Excellence in Education Award Ceremony (2017)
- Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Elevating and Celebrating Effective Teachers Conference (2017) The Grand Opening of Porsche North America (2015)
- High Performance, Healthy Schools Award ceremony from the Georgia Chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council (2014)
- Community of Intown Neighborhood School (CINS) Award Ceremony (2011)
- the Georgia Governor's Mansion (2010)
- the Atlanta Public Schools Board of Education (various years)
- APS Back to School Bash (various years)
- and yearly community events, including: Virginia Highland Civic Association; Druid Hills Civic Association; the Atlanta Hawks and Atlanta Gladiators; Georgia Tech Women’s and Men’s Basketball and Women’s Volleyball; Georgia State University Women’s and Men’s Basketball
With Ms. Ashleigh Spatz of Burgess-Peterson
at the Modern Band Summit 2019
Bald Ms. Turgeon with her 4 sisters:
Michelle, Traci, Kim, Amy, and me
"If arts have a place in society, they must be a part of a community. To be an artist is not the privilege of a few, but the necessity of us all." –Robert Lawson Shaw
So many adults nowadays don’t consider themselves "musical"--because they never really got to find out what their talents were OR they were told “just mouth the words” if they didn’t sound perfect. Other adults may have enjoyed Music class and may have even played in Band, Chorus, or Orchestra, but once they realized they were not “musicians” they quit trying to be musical. The U.S. is sadly unique in the number of adults who do not participate in some sort of musical activity (even just for fun) throughout life.
Thankfully, modern Elementary Music is based on deeper music literacy and understanding—kids should be learning how to: sing & dance, play instruments, read and write music, improvise, compose, listen to and analyze music, and to connect music to other subjects, places, and eras. My goal is to help your child become as musical as possible in as many ways as possible by the time s/he leaves Springdale Park.
I hope each child will find many talents and explore all avenues of music so that once they leave elementary school they will sustain an understanding and love of Music for the rest of their lives. But I also aspire to support the work that students do in their other classes, so some of the activities we do in Music (taking notes, creating flashcards, completing a research project and designing presentations) will connect to things outside of Music. Not every child will want to be a singer or instrumentalist or performer, but every child can learn how to improve their skills, to understand more, to read basic notation, and even compose music. The great part is Music connects to just about everything, so we can learn just about anything in Music!
Bio:
Brianne Turgeon is a Georgia native who has been teaching Music and Chorus in Georgiasince 1994. She holds a Bachelor of Music Education from the University of Georgia and
Master of Music Education from the University of Southern Mississippi.
She has earned certificates for Orff Level I and Level II, Modern Band 101 and 102
and Music as a Second Language certification through Music Will (formerly Little Kids Rock),
and has participated in workshops in World Music Drumming, Guitar methodology, and choral
conducting at UGA and with Henry Leck for Creating Artistry.
She began her career K-12 Music and Chorus in Butts County (Jackson, Georgia),
where she was also the Musical Theatre and Literary Coach, and 1998 the Jackson
High School Boys Quartet won first place at Solo and Ensemble Competition.
Since 1999 Brianne has taught K-5 General Music and Chorus, first in Rockdale County
and now at Springdale Park in Atlanta Public Schools.
She has served as an APS Fine Arts Support Teacher and on the APS Superintendent’s
Teacher Advisory Committee. As a teacher leader, Ms. Turgeon helps plan and present
professional development for APS Fine Arts teachers and has helped develop Music-based
Student Learning Objective item banks for APS and the Georgia DOE.
Brianne was the Assistant Music Director of Atlanta Young Singers from 1999-2017. Additionally, she has worked with the Atlanta Public Schools Honor Chorus, APS Elementary Chorus Festival and was co-founder and co-organizer for the Children’s Community Chorus Festival (CCCF). Under her direction, the Music@SPARK 4th and 5th grade Advanced Chorus perform extensively in the Atlanta community.
Awards, Leadership, & Recognition:
- Georgia Music Educators Association Statewide Elementary Chair 2019-2021
- CMA Music Teacher of Excellence 2019
- AAPS Arts Teacher of Excellence 2019
- Presenter at Georgia Music Educators Association Statewide InService Conference, January 2019, 2024, 2025
- Springdale Park and Music class featured in GPB Atlanta Symphony Live Exploration (nominated for a Southeastern Emmy Award)
- Springdale Park ES Advanced Chorus LGPE overall Superior ratings (2012-present)
- Presenter at Woodruff Arts Center Educators Conference 2017(Music and ELA integration), 2018 (Pure Imagination), and 2019 (Music, Science, Math, and Social Studies Integration), 2022, 2023, 2024
- Paulding County Elementary Honor Chorus Conductor 2022
- Gwinnett County Elementary Honor Chorus Conductor 2016
- Give a Note Foundation School Music Program of Excellence semi-finalist 2014
- Springdale Park Elementary Teacher of the Year 2014
- APS Superintendent's Teacher Advisory Committee 2014-2016
- APS Fine Arts Support Teacher, Elementary Team
- Atlanta Families' Award for Excellence in Education Winner's Circle 2013
- Voting Member of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (the Grammy Academy)
- Presenter at ECET2 (Elevating and Celebrating Effective Teaching and Teachers)
- Coordinated student performances at the Center for Civil and Human Rights Teacher Open House 2014-present
- Star Teacher at Jackson High School (Jackson, GA) 1997 & 1998
- Springdale Park Specials Team Leader & School Instructional Lead Teacher (SILT) 2009-2014, 2016-2018, 2023-24
- Member of the Awards Day Committee (2009-present)
- Received grants from DonorsChoose: String Things 1 (August 2015) and String Things 2 (October 2015)--Ukuleles and supplies; The Composer Connection (August 2015) Android Tablets, Chromebooks, and an 8-track audio recorder/mixer; Hands and Eyes on Music (October 2015) Hands-on materials for composing and pocket charts
- PTO Grant: Ukulele books and materials (October 2015), Flat and Soundtrap (2017-present)
- Recipient of CINS Awards 2010 (Oye), 2008 (Guitar Heroes and American Tunes)
- Morningside Elementary Leadership Team (2007-2009)
- C.J. Hicks Elementary Teacher of the Year 2006
- Jackson High School STAR Teacher 1997 (Katie Niles) and 1998 (Christopher Hughes)
- Director for Jackson High School’s First-Place Boys Quartet in Literary event, 1998
NARAS Grammy Award Winner (with ASO Chorus):
- 1998, Adams: Harmonium / Rachmaninov
- Best Choral Performance
- 1999, Barber: Prayers of Kierkegaard / Bartók: Cantata profana / Vaughan Williams: Dona nobis pacem
- Best Classical Album
- Best Choral Performance
- 2003, Vaughan Williams: A Sea Symphony
- Best Classical Album
- Best Choral Performance
- 2005, Berlioz: Requiem
- Best Choral Performance
Certifications and Training:
- Music As a Second Language (MSL) 2025
- Orff Level 1 and 2
- Kodaly infusion
- Teaching Guitar Workshop 2004 and 2018
- Little Kids Rock 101 and Modern Band Summit (2018, 2019)
- UGA Summer Workshop in Conducting with Dr. Daniel Bara (auditor, 2014)
- UGA/GSU Summer Workshop in Conducting with Dr. Daniel Bara and Dr. Deanna Joseph (auditor, 2016)
- Creating Artistry with Henry Leck (2015 and 2018)
- Metropolitan Opera Met in HD training (2018)
- Piloting lessons from Carnegie Hall Musical Explorers (2019 & 2020)
- World Music Drumming with Wil Schmid (2004)
you know me your student kaetlan in ms. mailmans class that joins miss berrys... i think that ur a great music teacher and have an amazing voice Love,Kaetlan Brannock :)
ReplyDeleteHi Kaetlan! Thank you for your sweet words! I got this message in May (many months after you left it!). Thank you for being a sweet and attentive student!
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