Ashleigh McDaniel Spatz teaches elementary general music, chorus, and steel drum band at Burgess-Peterson Academy in Atlanta, Georgia. She was the 2020 recipient of the Give-A-Note Music Education Innovator Award, the 2019 CMA Music Teacher of Excellence Award, the 2019 Teach On Project Award, and she was the 2019-2021 Teacher of the Year at Burgess-Peterson. She served on committees to create resources and to rewrite the Georgia Music Standards for the Georgia Department of Education, and she is a teacher leader on the Art Resource Teacher Support team for Atlanta Public Schools. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Music from Mercer University and her Masters of Music Education from Texas Tech University.

She is so excited to begin this journey as a CAN teacher leader. She can’t wait to learn about other music teachers’ experiences from all over the nation. She has a passion for mentoring new teachers and is a proud mom to four kids, one dog, and 18 chickens. Follow her classroom on Twitter @spatzyspatz.

Music Educators Journal September issue now available online. Read now. Cover image of September 2026 issue of the journal
Back to School with NAfME 2025 images of music students
Join the conversation on NAfME Connect. The online community for music educators.