President-Elect    (2024-2025)

Ashley Kirkpatrick, Montgomery County Public Schools

Ashley Kirkpatrick is the General Music Teacher and Choral Director at Rosemont Elementary School in Gaithersburg, MD. She also served as conductor of the Northwest MCPS Elementary Honors Chorus in Spring 2024. She is in her 11th year of teaching with 8 of those years spent in MCPS. She began her career in Colonial Beach, VA where she taught elementary general music, chorus and band. She started her chapter in MCPS at Redland MS where she taught chorus and theater and co-taught band and orchestra. Ms. Kirkpatrick holds a bachelor’s degree in music education from Susquehanna University in Selinsgrove, PA, and is currently pursuing her master’s degree in Kodály music education from the American Kodály Institute at Loyola University Maryland. She also served as Director of the Children’s Choir at The Lutheran Church of St. Andrew in Silver Spring from 2017 - 2022.

Emily Weiser, Secretary, is a General Music Teacher at Dr. Sally K. Ride Elementary School in Germantown, MD, as well as Choral Director for Fourth and Fifth Grade Choruses. She received a Bachelor’s in Music Education from the University of Maryland, College Park. She completed all Kodály levels and earned a Master’s in Kodály Music Education from the American Kodály Institute at Loyola University Maryland. Emily served as Musical and Artistic Director at the Mandell Jewish Community Center Theater Camp, a day camp for Grades 3-9 located in West Hartford, CT, from 2015 through 2019. Emily directs a musical theater club for Fourth and Fifth Grade students, teaches private piano lessons, and works as an accompanist in Montgomery and Howard Counties, most recently as the piano accompanist for Northwest Montgomery County Honors Chorus.

Molly Park is an elementary (K-5) vocal and general music educator and a co-director of Howard County Children’s Chorus in Howard County Public School System, Maryland. Park currently serves as an Eastern Division representative of the National Association for Music Education (NAfME) Council for General Music and as a member at large of Maryland United Specialist in Kodály (MUSIK). Certified in Kodály (all levels), Orff (level II), and Dalcroze (level I), Park has led a graduate general music methods seminar as an adjunct faculty at the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University and taught the Peabody Children’s Chorus Prep classes. She has published lessons for Hal Leonard LLC’s Essential Elements Music Class and presented at professional development workshops for music educators for Howard County Public School System and Maryland United Specialists in Kodály.

Park received her Master of Music in Voice degree from the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University and her Master of Education degree in Kodály Music Education from Loyola University Maryland. She holds a Bachelor of Music from the University of Texas at Austin. Park is devoted to enabling students from diverse backgrounds to reach their full potential through her culturally responsive repertoire, creative performances, musical literacy, and social-emotional learning. The best way to reach her is by email: molly_park@hcpss.org.

Bethany Pasierb is an elementary general music/chorus teacher for Montgomery County Public Schools in Maryland, where she has been teaching since 2017. Bethany is an enthusiastic educator who is dedicated to teaching music through creative and engaging lessons. She received her Bachelor's in Music Education & Vocal Performance from Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania, her Master's of Education in Kodály from the American Kodály Institute at Loyola University Maryland, and is currently pursuing her National Board Certification. Additionally, she studied opera at the Accademia Vocale Lorenzo Malfatti in Lucca, Italy. Bethany also teaches private voice and piano lessons and has presented at multiple workshops for the Maryland United Specialists in Kodály (MUSIK). Bethany was the previous President of MUSIK since 2022.