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- [S106] The Mountain Press, 2 May 2010.
Mercereau-Huskey engagement
- [S106] The Mountain Press, 7 Mar 2011.
Sharing love of music is way of life
by ELLEN BROWN
Huskey works with 800 students a week as a music teacher at Wearwood Elementary and Pigeon Forge Primary schools and as the coach of the Pigeon Forge High School color guard and coordinator of Pigeon Forge Extreme Cloggers.
For Megan Huskey, being awarded 2011 Sevier County Schools Primary Grades Teacher of the Year is “exciting and humbling.”
“I see 800 kids a week, so it’s really good to know I have an impact on them.”
The Boone, N.C., native teaches music at Wearwood Elementary School and Pigeon Forge Primary School and oversees the color guard at Pigeon Forge High School. She is also the founder and coordinator of the Pigeon Forge Extreme Cloggers, which has around 42 members ages 4 to 42. The group is headed to Disney World in May to perform.
“Clogging has been my life since I was 4. I was shocked when I learned there wasn’t a clogging group in this area.”
Huskey has always shared her love of music and dance, teaching private lessons in oboe, flute, violin and piano.
“I never thought of it as a career until someone in college mentioned it to me.”
She received her degree in music education from Mars Hill College in Mars Hill, N.C., where she also received her minor in Biblical languages. She has a masters degree in education and an education specialist degree as well.
It was actually a job as a performer at The Comedy Barn that brought her to Pigeon Forge.
“We had always gone to Pigeon Forge growing up. My brother, who’s the lead dancer at Hatfield and McCoy, and my sister, the manager at Murder Mystery Dinner Show, moved with me. I had planned on going back to Asheville, but then the teaching job opened up. I was very lucky.”
The schools she works at are “so different,” but everyone she works with is “very supportive of the programs I do.”
“I love the variety of the students I have. Diversity is great.”
A member of Mt. Zion Baptist Church, Huskey is also a newlywed — she married her husband, an electrician who works in Oak Ridge, in July.
For now, future plans are to “keep doing what I’m doing.”
“I want to learn as much as I can. I want kids to grow and learn, to enjoy music and dance.
“I believe music is for everyone. Learning should be fun and memorable, and music helps it to be that way.”
- [S106] The Mountain Press, 24 Mar 2013.
TOY: Huskey's teaching music to the ears of her students
Robbie Hargett
Catlettsburg Elementary School teacher Megan Huskey directs students in her choral group. Huskey was selected Sevier County Teacher of the Year for primary grades.
SEVIERVILLE —
Megan Huskey, music and chorus teacher at Catlettsburg Elementary School, wants her classes to be upbeat.
"We keep moving," said Huskey, who was awarded Sevier County Teacher of the Year for primary grades. "There's not a lot of sitting. We sit at the beginning to do a song and then we'll get up and play instruments, or we'll do a dance or movement activity. The kids really enjoy it; they have a lot of fun."
Huskey's approach in the classroom comes from her background in dance. The Boone, N.C. native moved to Sevier County to pursue a career in theater and dance.
Before that, she attended Mars Hill College near Asheville, N.C. and thought she was going to pursue a career in computer science. But she joined the band and decided music was "something I wanted to do as a career, and the teaching came along with it," she said.
"It wasn't until college that I decided that I really wanted to be a teacher," Huskey said. "I observed some elementary music classes and really fell in love with it, and it just went from there."
She got a master's degree in elementary education at East Tennessee State University and her education specialist degree at Lincoln Memorial College. While working at the Comedy Barn in Pigeon Forge, a teaching position opened up, so she worked both jobs for a while.
Huskey has taught in Sevier County for seven years, and it's her second year at Catlettsburg Elementary. She believes she won Teacher of the Year because of her involvement with all of the students at the school.
"It's things like the Christmas programs," she said. "I work with all the kids and get them to perform and involve everyone so I'm not leaving anyone out."
A true performer, Huskey wants to instill self-confidence and individuality in her students.
"I want kids to find their voice and their selves as performers and as citizens, so self-confidence is really important, and also being comfortable interacting with other people," she said.
Huskey believes interaction with students is important for being a good teacher.
"It's not just about giving them facts; having a personal relationship with them is important," Huskey said. "Being a good teacher is about being able to interact with the kids and have them learn from that. I try to make learning memorable and fun."
She also wants to be a positive influence for her students, someone they can look up to.
"I try to be a role model for them because there are so many bad influences for kids," she said. "I try to be a good one for them."
Huskey extends dance beyond school hours. She runs an after-school dance program at the school, and two years ago she opened a dance studio, Move Dance Factory, in Sevierville.
"The dance studio takes up most of my time outside of the classroom," Huskey said. "I teach here from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. and then I'm at the studio from 4-8 p.m., so that's most of my life."
Huskey also gives private lessons on the side. Although she said she has basic skills on almost any instrument, Huskey's primarily an oboist and flutist.
"That's what I did in the band at Mars Hill," she said.
rhargett@themountainpress.com
- [S106] The Mountain Press, 2 May 2010.
Mercereau-Huskey engagement
Kevin and Beth Mercereau of Boone, N. C., announce the engagement of their daughter, Megan Celeste Mercereau, to John Paul Huskey.
The groom's parents are Chuck and Doranda Huskey of Sevierville, Tenn.
The Bride elect is a 2006 graduate of Mars Hill College, a 2009 graduate of East Tennessee State University and a 2010 graduate of Lincoln Memorial University. She is a member of Mt. Zion Baptist Church and is the director of the Pigeon Forge Extreme Cloggers. She is employed by Sevier County School System.
The prospective groom is a member of Mt. Zion Baptist Church and is employed by B&W at Y-12.
The wedding will take place at 10 a.m. July 24, 2010, at Mt. Zion Baptist Church.
All friends and relatives are invited.
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