Faculty Spotlight: Mrs. Jodi Reed

In just three short years, Mrs. Jodi Reed has made an incredible impact on the Mater Dei Performing Arts Department. As Director of Choral and Vocal Music, she oversees 11 groups comprised of over 250 students in six ensemble choirs, handbells, and four small groups. Reed holds a Master’s in Choral Conducting from Cal State East Bay, a Bachelor’s from San Jose State in Piano Performance and Pedagogy and is pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts from Claremont Graduate University.

A native of Southern California, Mrs. Reed graduated from Fountain Valley High School and only recently returned to Orange County after living in the Bay Area where she served as the Choral Director at Monte Vista High School in Danville, CA. While music education is her life’s passion outside of family, it is surprising to know that Mrs. Reed has been in the classroom for less than 10 years. Prior to teaching, she maintained a competitive piano studio for over 25 years while balancing life at home with her husband and six children.

“I always wanted to go back and get my master’s in music,” she shared. “On a whim, I went the choral route and it changed everything about my life. Becoming a high school teacher, just kind of fell into my lap. I didn’t know I wanted to do it. But, I quickly realized it was how I wanted to spend every day for the next several decades. I love it.”

In her first year at Monte Vista, Mrs. Reed brought her students on a tour of Southern CA and participated in an exchange with the Mater Dei choirs and Mr. Scott Melvin. “Our groups mixed in a way that we had not seen. It was like a warm hug for us all. It left such a wonderful impression on me,” she shared about the experience. Little did Mrs. Reed know that only a few years later, Mater Dei would come calling. As she was entering her sixth year at Monte Vista, she saw the job for Mater Dei on social media. “Scott Melvin called me immediately and

we talked for hours over the next several weeks. I prayed about it and thought, OK, ‘God, YOU need to tell my husband that I’m blowing up our lives’ [with a move like this]. Two hours later, my husband called me and said, I think we should do this.”

Although leaving her job and life in Northern CA behind was difficult and emotional, it has offered abundant blessings that she did not anticipate including the gift of more time with her children (three who are Monarchs) and being close to her grandchildren.

While Mrs. Reed sees her experience at MD as a gift, she has been a huge gift to this community especially as we navigated the global pandemic. While other schools, including Monte Vista, have been forced to pause their arts program for over a year, Mater Dei’s performing arts has survived and thrived.

When sharing about how she helped lead her choral students through these challenging times, she shared, “Of course, it hasn’t been the same and [they] are aching for it to be the same. We had to be able to survive in creative ways by envisioning every space in the school – even the parking structure. What was impossible became possible.”

In addition to innovation and support from the MD Administration, Mrs. Reed credits the program’s resiliency to the choral student leadership team. “They were the exact kids that we needed – enthusiastic, positive, and overall good vibes despite everything. They made all of the difference.”

As things continue to normalize with the pandemic, Mrs. Reed and her choral students hope to return to their home in the choir room and enjoy singing at school Masses when school resumes in the fall. Beyond that, there are big travel plans, invitations to prestigious concerts, and a new Honors Acapella Class. The entire Mater Dei community is excited to see what Mrs. Reed and her talented students will do next. Moreover, we are grateful that she answered the call to become a part of this special family.