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Judith Bush is currently the Music Teacher Leader for Lincoln Public Schools in Lincoln Nebraska after 29 years in the music classroom, sixteen of them in Lincoln. Before moving to Nebraska in 2000, she taught in Kentucky and Ohio. Judy earned her BME from Northern Kentucky University and her Orff Certification with Rene Boyer from the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music with graduate work from Xavier University, Miami of Ohio and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Glenn Korff School of Music. Her experience includes K-12 General and Choral Music, beginning band and marching band with the majority of her time focused on Elementary General Music.
She is a Past President of the Nebraska Music Education Association where she served for twelve years, six of those as Public Relations/Advocacy Chair, and is currently NAfME North Central Division Immediate Past President. In 2016 she received the Bryan R. Johnson Distinguished Service Award from NMEA. Judy has served as executive board liaison to both the NAfME Innovations and General Music Councils and is a co-chair of the NAfME Professional Development Committee. In addition to her association work, she served as the New York Metropolitan Opera liaison to Lincoln Public schools for six years where she was asked to sit on a panel discussion for the Met Educators Conference in New York.
Judy has been active in creating professional development opportunities for teachers across the state through their educational service units and is an active teacher leader with Lincoln Public Schools, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Glenn Korff School of Music and NMEA where she is currently serving as Executive Director. A regular guest lecturer at Doane University for senior music education students, she has also presented on various topics to educators at state, national and international conferences including the ASCD International Conference in 2014, 2015 and 2016 with the Whole Child Network of Schools.
She has also collaborated with faculty at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln to create a Higher Ed Summit and a lab for sophomore music education practicum students. Judy has also served on an ad hoc committee for the Nebraska Department of Education to review music endorsements and has served as a member of the board of Nebraskans for the Arts. She has a passion for pre-service and new teachers, working to provide support and guidance to successfully retain them within the profession.
Judy has written articles for the Nebraska Music Educator magazine, the National Federation of State High School Associations Music Journal, the Orff Echo and the SmartMusic Blog, and has recently contributed an essay for a book in progress by Dr. Danni Gilbert, UNL Glenn Korff School of Music, in addition to her own blog about her experiences in music education at musicteachermidlifemusing.blog. Judy and her husband Doug, also a music educator, have three sons, two daughter-in-laws and two grandsons.
