After teaching elementary music education in Salem-Keizer School District for more than two decades, College of Liberal Arts alumna Kelsie Demianew is recognized for her dedication to helping students find joy in music
Kelsie Demianew
By Taylor Pedersen, CLA Student Writer - June 4, 2026
Kelsie Demianew, M.A.I.S. ‘05 an elementary music specialist in the Salem-Keizer School District and alumna of Oregon State University’s College of Liberal Arts, recently received the Elementary Music Educator Award from the Oregon Music Educators Association. The recognition comes after more than two decades of teaching at Cummings Elementary School, where she has spent her career helping students discover a passion for music.
“It’s pretty cool,” Demianew said of teaching in the same community where she grew up. “It kind of is a full-circle situation.”
Salem-Keizer’s school music programs gave her an early foundation in music. In fourth grade, she joined both orchestra and choir.
“I always loved music,” she said. “It was always something I did.”
Additionally, as the oldest among her siblings and cousins, Demianew naturally stepped into leadership roles early in life. By elementary school, she already knew she wanted to become a teacher. Combining her two passions, Demianew first attended Linfield University in McMinnville to study music education. Although she grew up playing the violin, she “followed her gut” and shifted her focus toward singing..
At the time, the State of Oregon required all teachers to hold a master’s degree or teaching license before stepping into the classroom, which led Demianew to OSU’s Master of Interdisciplinary Studies program with a focus on music education. The graduate work emphasized philosophy, curriculum building, music theory, and teaching methods more than performance itself.
“Being a performer was never really the goal,” she said. “It really was sharing my passion with kids.”
That passion has now shaped 22 years at Cummings Elementary, the only school where she has taught full-time. Though she originally imagined herself directing a middle or high school choir, an opening at Cummings shifted that.
“At the end of my first year, I was like, ‘No, this is it. This is what I want to do,” she said.
Demianew credits much of that decision to the mentors who supported her early in her career. Veteran teachers inside the building and throughout the district guided her through the difficult first years of teaching and encouraged her as she built her own classroom and programs. Over time, Cummings became more than a workplace to her.
“It’s my second home, really,” she said.
Now, after more than two decades in the classroom, Demianew regularly comes across former students and parents throughout Salem. Some of her earliest students are now raising children of their own, and soon, she joked, she may even start teaching their grandchildren.
“I like to think of my music instruction as putting down the first layer of the foundation,” she said.
That foundation includes basic musical concepts, but also confidence, creativity, and joy.
Whether students continue into choir, band, or orchestra later in life, Demianew hopes they leave elementary school feeling comfortable participating in music in whatever way fits them best. Part of that work, she said, has become more challenging in recent years. Demianew has noticed changes in students’ attention spans and classroom behavior, requiring her to rethink how she approaches instruction and classroom management. Rather than holding on to old expectations, she has adapted her teaching style to better meet students where they are.
“I try to match what the kids need, and when I do that, we have a successful class,” she said.
Even through those challenges, Demianew says her recent award reminded her that the work she does still matters. At the annual banquet, surrounded by colleagues she has admired for years, she received a standing ovation as she accepted the Elementary Music Educator Award.
“It feels good to be acknowledged,” she said. “I put 100 percent, 110 percent into my job, and it was recognized.”
For Demianew, the recognition reflects the importance of music education itself, especially at the elementary level, where students are often discovering music for the first time. After 22 years in the classroom, that mission still feels just as meaningful as when she first began.
For those early career music educators, Demianew affirms, “It’s worth it. There are days or weeks that are hard, but it’s worth it. It’s not necessarily all about the concerts, but building that community, togetherness, and finding ways of working together in the classroom.”