OkMEA Election Information

Diana Carter is an experienced music educator of 32 years. She is in her 22nd year at Plainview in Ardmore where she teaches middle school and high school vocal music and music in film classes. Under her direction, the choir has performed impressive musical productions including Into The Woods, Cinderella, Curtains and The Addams Family. She taught previously in Sulphur, McAlester, and Lone Grove. Her students consistently exhibit excellence, winning Outstanding Achievement and Sweepstakes Awards at OSSAA contests and Outstanding Choir, Sweepstakes and Best Overall Awards at music festivals. She has served as Junior Class Sponsor and committee member for Safe and Healthy Schools. She was selected by her administration to attend a four-day technology conference, later sharing classroom tools and tips with teachers in her district. She mentors music educators in the Ardmore area.

Her professional memberships include POE, ACDA, OCDA, NafME, and OkMEA. She has served on the OCDA Board as SE Representative and on the OkMEA All-State Chorus Committee, chairing the 2018 Mixed Chorus. She chaired CTSWS Region H last year. A Southeastern All-District Honor Choir board member for over 20 years, she has been its Chair three years and is the current secretary-treasurer.

Carter earned her Bachelor of Music Education degree, vocal and piano emphasis, from East Central University. She is active in the Ardmore First Baptist Church choir, adult ensemble and handbell choir, and is a frequent soloist. She has conducted and accompanied honor choirs in McAlester, Durant, Ada, Marietta and Poteau. She and her husband, Mike, also a musician, are blessed with three adult children, Matthew, Elizabeth and Colton, and their spouses, Rachel, TJ, and Madi, respectively. They have four grandchildren with another making her debut in December. Her passion for music aside, she enjoys cooking, gardening, watching movies and musical theater.

My goal is to serve others by connecting music educators with dynamic resources and providing students with impactful performing experiences. This is foundational to OkMEA. I believe it is important to be sensitive to the ever changing needs of our students and the communities we impact. Providing access to meaningful professional development regardless of experience is vital. Specifically, I would like to expand opportunities for educators to learn from each other whether it be through mentorship, master teacher panels, or online forums.

Jeremy Scott is in his 11th year of teaching and 8th year as the Head Director of Orchestras at Putnam City North High School. Under his direction, the PC North Symphony Orchestra has earned 6 Sweepstakes Awards, 2 Outstanding Achievement Awards and many other awards at OSSAA contests throughout his time at PCN. Under his direction, the PCN orchestra has performed all over the world including St. Louis, MO, San Antonio, TX, Boulder, CO and at the Cadogen Hall in London, England. Additionally, in 2023, the PCN Symphony Orchestra performed as an honor group at the OkMEA Winter Conference. Scott directs two orchestras at PC North, assists with 7th and 8th grade orchestras at Hefner Middle School and teaches 5th grade elementary strings at Ralph Downs Elementary School. Prior to PCN, Scott was the Director of Bands and Orchestras at Belle Isle Middle School where they earned top ratings and were awarded best Overall Orchestra at the Texas Director’s Choice Festival in 2015. He recently started a recording project along side his friend, Matt Scheuber, called Vocal Ascend that involves singers from all over America to record a cappella albums that are now released on all major streaming platforms.

​Scott resides in Oklahoma City with his wife, Tara, and two children, Eli and Charlee, who are both attending Putnam City Schools and hope to attend PC North one day. He enjoys spending quality time with his family whether it’s playing Legend of Zelda with the kids, hiking or road trips. He is also deacon for his congregation where he worships in Tuttle and enjoys leading worship singing a cappella hymns.

OkMEA continues to provide meaningful experiences for music education in this state as the classroom continues to change and evolve. I would love the opportunity to assist in providing the most helpful experiences for orchestra teachers that can immediately impact our students and communities in ways that are most relevant to today’s orchestra student. My vision would be to further equip our teachers with tools to help them truly enjoy changing student’s lives through music. I recently traveled to Florida for the National American String Teachers Association conference where I was provided with an overwhelming amount of session ideas and literature. I would love to bring as much of that to our conference as possible.

Dr. Eric Pennello is a Lecturer of Music Education at the University of Oklahoma, where he teaches undergraduate courses in music education, instrumental methods, and woodwind techniques, as well as graduate courses in measurement and evaluation, sociological foundations in music education, and quantitative research in music. Previously, Dr. Pennello served as an interim instructor of music education and graduate teaching assistant at OU, where he taught undergraduate courses in instrumental music education, music courses for non-majors, and was the Assistant Director of the OU New Horizons Band. Before coming to Norman, he taught in public schools in Oklahoma for nine years and remains an active clinician and adjudicator around the nation.

As a researcher in music education, Dr. Pennello’s interests have centered on music teacher preparation, music teacher identity, instrumental methods and rehearsal techniques, and rural music. He has presented research findings at national conferences of organizations such as the National Association for Music Education (NAfME), Society for Music Teacher Education (SMTE), and Instrumental Music Teacher Educators (IMTE) and internationally in the UK. He holds professional memberships in the National Association for Music Education, Oklahoma Music Educators Association, Society for Music Teacher Education, American Educational Research Association, Oklahoma Music Adjudicators Association, and Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia.

Dr. Pennello earned his Doctor of Philosophy in Music Education with an emphasis in Instrumental Conducting and a Master of Music Education in Instrumental Conducting from the University of Oklahoma. He also holds bachelor’s degrees in music education and saxophone performance from Southwestern Oklahoma State University. He has been married to his wife, Angela, for 15 years, who was recently honored as an OkMEA Exemplary Teacher. They have two children, Adellynn and Parker.

Over the past few years, significant efforts have been made in areas associated with the Higher Education Vice President and COkMEA Advisor. Specifically, emphasis has been placed on involving preservice music teachers earlier and more often in experiences directly relating to their education. OkMEA has focused on providing sessions at the Fall and Winter Conferences targeted to collegiate students, highlighting the importance of mentorship into and throughout the profession, and furthering knowledge and skill development with the new Collegiate Symposium. If elected, I look forward to continuing to build these programs to further advance the opportunities our organization could design and provide to help equip the next generation of music educators in Oklahoma.

We are fortunate to have excellent faculty at the state’s many universities and college programs. I would look to expand the offerings available for professional development of those in teacher prep programs and Oklahoma music educators by helping to foster collaborations and partnerships between universities and their P–12 colleagues, encouraging evidence-based decision-making in policy, and the continuous improvement of the curriculum in higher education to focus on those graduating from our programs to be best prepared to enter classrooms. Reintroducing the Research Sessions to the annual Winter Conference is a step toward that goal. With the continued inclusion of research, music educators and teacher educators in Oklahoma are afforded opportunities to learn about the recent scholarship and best practices in our field nationwide and move our conferences to align with the offerings of many other state-MEA conferences. I appreciate your time and consideration of my nomination.