Starting the 2025-2026 school year, Mrs. Dowd has become the new music director at Hamburg Area High School. Mrs. Dowd has been a director in the district for 22 years, and the only time she did not work at the high school was the last two years. This is the first year Mrs. Dowd is teaching band, as she stated, “It’s a new challenge and I am actually enjoying it and enjoying teaching ukulele.” While Mrs. Dowd teaches many groups at the high school, she does not really have a favorite group. She stated, “I really enjoy musical. I like each group for different reasons, but I truly in my soul enjoy musical. When I was a kid, I was extremely shy like never talking in class, and musical brought me out of my shell. It helped me come into touch with myself and know who I was and who I wanted to be.” Mrs. Dowd stated that her favorite musical has been South Pacific with their amazing scenery.
The students in Hamburg enjoy Mrs. Dowd as their teacher and have great hopes that Mrs. Dowd will be a great teacher. Mason Velilla stated, “I personally believe Mrs. Dowd is gonna be a great teacher.” Mason has been in the band for about four years and is still adjusting to the different teaching styles. Another student at Hamburg, Kylie Werley, stated that Mrs. Dowd’s teaching is good and she enjoys Mrs. Dowd as her teacher. Kylie has been in the orchestra for seven years, playing violin.
Students are excited to have Mrs. Dowd at the high school in all the groups she teaches. Mrs. Dowd is excited for her new change at Hamburg Area School District.
