About Kari

Hello families! This is my fourth year teaching music with Journey, and I am so excited to be part of this community. I earned my Bachelors of Music Education degree (Classroom and Instrumental Music) from Bethel University with a minor in Teaching English as a Second Language. During my 14 years of teaching, I have taught orchestra in public schools with grades 4-12, as well as private and group lessons on piano, violin, viola, cello and bass. Just before joining the Journey, I spent 5 years teaching 4th and 5th grade orchestra and 1 year teaching General Music K-5 in the South Washington County School District in MN. I was a long-time member playing bass in the Bloomington Symphony Orchestra, and now I stay active making music on the Faith Community Church worship team. I grew up in the Twin Cities area, and was homeschooled in 3rd and 4th grade myself! My husband Jordan and I have been part of Faith Community Church since before we were married in 2017. Our children are such joys in our lives! Jonathan will be 4 in September 2024, and Sylvia (who has Down Syndrome) will be 2 in January 2025. We are expecting Baby #3 in October 2025! Some of my favorite hobbies are reading, hiking, learning to preserve food from our garden and spending time with my husband and two golden retrievers. Music is an incredible gift from God. It is one of the ways we express ourselves and connect with others and with God. It gives me so much joy to see young students grow as young musicians, because studying music helps to foster confidence, independence, responsibility, creativity- not to mention it’s just fun! I look forward to meeting you and your children this next year!