2024/2025 Winner
Allie VanderMolen
Grant Community School
Allie VanderMolen has been a passionate and creative music educator since 2019, currently teaching K–5 General Music and Elementary Choir at Grant Community School and assisting with 5th Grade Band at Parrish Middle School. She holds a Bachelor of Music from the University of the Pacific and incorporates Orff, Kodály, Feierabend, and Dalcroze methods to create an inclusive, joyful classroom. Her music room is filled with hands-on learning—xylophones, recorders, bucket drumming, and dance—and she organizes events like Family Folk Dance Night to build community through music.
Allie also contributes as a leader in Salem-Keizer’s music community, serving on curriculum and festival committees, mentoring future educators, and fostering professional growth. She provides enriching experiences for her students, including performances with local choirs and symphony field trips.
Her students describe her as kind, encouraging, and full of “pazzazz.” They love her fun, creative approach—whether it is unique vocal warmups, themed concerts based on The Day the Crayons Quit, or helping them master instruments with patience and humor. As one student puts it: “She adds a special magic touch to everything we do in music.”