“Music makes us happy and helps us process our emotions,” says Laura Bishop, the new Beginning Music and Choir instructor for grades K-5 at Denair Elementary Charter Academy. “When I was in high school, I ditched piano lessons. I just thought, ‘I don’t want to do this anymore.’ I had other priorities. Now, I am so grateful I took piano for six years. I can play and it brings me so much joy.”
Bishop is looking forward to bringing that same level of joy and sense of accomplishment to DECA students during the 2025-26 school year.
Here are a few things you likely didn’t know about one of Denair’s newest instructors:
Family – I have two children: Aiden, who is 16 years old and a junior-to-be at Turlock High, and Leila, who is 13 and an eighth-grader-to-be at Dutcher Middle School.
Educational background – I attended Bella Vista High School in Roseville (class of 1998), and I have a bachelor’s degree in child development from CSU Sacramento. This fall I will be working on my music teaching credential.
Grades taught – I will be teaching Beginning Music and Choir for grades K-5
What drew you to DUSD? – I like the close-knit community of DECA.
What most inspires you about teaching? – I love seeing my students get excited when they have mastered a new challenge, and I’m particularly excited about teaching music, because you get to see them progress from beginners to confident performers, composers or creators.
What challenge do you look forward to tackling this year? – I look forward to creating a children’s choir from scratch, and watching the children perform for their families and friends.
What is a favorite teaching tool or activity? – I plan to have a karaoke system in my classroom, and I have a feeling that Karaoke Fridays might become a big hit!
What do you want your students to remember? – I want my students to remember how much fun we had making music together and the happy memories that songs from our music class will bring them.
How can parents support what you do? – Parents can support what I do in the classroom by attending their children’s performances.
What is something that would surprise others about your job? – One of the things that has surprised me the most in my teaching career is the unexpected lifelong impact I’ve had on my students. One of my preschool student’s parents contacted me 15 years later to tell me that her son was the only teenager she knew that loved Norah Jones’ music. I would play it in my classroom each morning, and because of that, he studied piano, guitar, and became a lead worship singer in their church.
What do you do for fun? – When I am not working, I love spending time with my kids, relaxing in our back yard, cooking, traveling, attending musicals and all of their sporting events.
