As the 2024-2025 school year wraps up, the KO community waves goodbye to another incredible teacher on campus, part-time Middle School orchestra teacher, Elise D’Addio. After working part-time here, while being a full-time graduate student at the University of Hartford, Ms. D’Addio is ready to move on to the next chapter of her life.
Ms. D’Addio has been a musician her whole life. She started playing the cello at age 4 and stuck with it through grade school, college, and graduate school, and is excited to pursue her passion professionally. “The great thing about this degree that I just got is it’s also a dual degree,” Ms. D’Addio said. “So I am Suzuki-certified as well as certified to teach K-12. So I can teach private lessons and the Suzuki method, but definitely gigging. I want to play as much as I can and eventually get an orchestra job, teaching, playing, and all that.”
When it comes to teaching, Ms. D’Addio wasn’t picky about age groups. “I wanted to work with any age group,” Ms. D’Addio said. “But if I had the opportunity to pick, it would be middle school. Mainly because I think I always liked the joking middle school humor. I think they’re adorable, and they’re still at the age where they’re excited to do stuff. They can do a little bit more than elementary schoolers. So I think that’s why I ended up really gravitating when I heard this position was open, coming here and giving it a shot.”
Obviously, teaching is a difficult job, but having good teachers and a strong program helped Ms. D’Addio prepare for life in the classroom. “I studied music education,” Ms. D’Addio said. “So all of my experiences and all my lab classes, where I actually got to work with students, definitely impacted how I prepared for this job. I think all my professors and all the little skills and tricks definitely helped try to make this job as successful as possible.”
When asked about her fondest memories, Ms. D’Addio reflects on planning for the spring concert from last year. “We came up with this music adjudication,” Ms. D’Addio reminisced. “That was such a fond memory because not only did it wrap up my first year, but we invited my dad to come work with all of the different ensembles. So it was kind of nice for him to see what I’d been doing for the past year, and to come work with my kids.”
Ms. D’Addio also enjoyed the visit from Mark Wood this spring. “That was just so cool to be a part of because I originally didn’t think I was gonna be a part of it,” Ms. D’Addio reflected. “I thought it was just gonna be an Upper School thing. But to get, to not only have my students work with Mark Wood, but for me to play with him was such a cool experience that I’ll remember forever.”
Thank you to Ms. D’Addio for all the hard work and dedication that you have put into the education of the students. Good luck in all of your future endeavors – the KO community will miss you!
