Biography

Mr. Herndon is presently serving his 7th year as orchestra director and guitar instructor at Jean Childs Young Middle School. He was inspired to become a teacher while serving in AmeriCorps where he taught environmental education in metro Atlanta classrooms. He continued this work at the Environmental Protection Division of GA until he realized he was meant to be a classroom teacher. Originally interested in science, Mr. Herndon felt his talent for music would be a creative way to reach children in the classroom.

Mr. Herndon believes in the connection between art, music, math, and science and strives to integrate knowledge from these fields in his teaching. For the last two summers, Mr. Herndon has taught, in partnership with the Atlanta Partnership for the Arts in Learning (APAL) and Georgia Institute of Technology, the Zooz Beat and Urban Remix Apps developed for iPods. Students engage the creative process through critical thinking about sound, art, geometry, and math.

Mr. Herndon is currently the Atlanta Ambassador for the national non-profit Little Kids Rock. Little Kids Rock transforms children’s lives by restoring and revitalizing music education in our public schools. Mr. Herndon facilitates communication and resources amongst 24 schools in 4 districts reaching 2,500 students.

In addition to his teaching endeavors, Mr. Herndon is the guitarist and vocalist for the local rock group the Expats, a private studio teacher of guitar at Carere music, and proud coach of his daughter’s soccer team the Grasshoppers.

BM, Music Education, Georgia State University - Magna cum Laude

MED, Educational leadership, Kennesaw State University

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