Kristen Sector

Laurel Faculty Spotlight

Kristen Sector, Performing Arts Department Chair (6-12)

Kristen Sector first started teaching in 2009 and came to Laurel in 2015. Despite a short one-year hiatus, she has enjoyed her role as performing arts teacher ever since and is now Department Chair. Mrs. Sector says “I love music so much, it just ‘clicks’ for me. I love how fun it is, how hard it is, and how good I feel when I learn something incredibly difficult. That’s also why I love teaching! I get to be goofy and creative at my job. I have worked as a professional classical musician for years, and continue to do so, but nothing beats teaching Middle School music!”

Rehearsals are for learning, so when you mess up, you get to try it again the next day.

~Kristen Sector, Performing Arts Department Chair

As in every department at Laurel, the Performing Arts curriculum* is grounded in research from LCRG. For example, the Sixth Grade performing arts classes that Eugene Sumlin (who teaches drama) and Mrs. Sector (band and choir) teach are focused on building artistic habits, grounded in LCRG research on executive functioning. She said “We coach students on effective practice strategies when learning lines or a new song. Re-reading your monologue is not going to help you perform it as much as speaking it again and again in different ways. When the girls prepare for their annual performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, they set short-term goals and long-term plans; practice inhibition and flexibility; and strengthen their working memory. Rehearsals are for learning, so when you mess up, you get to try it again the next day.”

*See "Curricula & Faculty by Grade" for Performing Arts in Laurel School's K-Grade 2, Grades 3-5, and Grades 6-8; and "Explore our Curriculum" for Grades 9-12.