This month, meet: “Mrs. Deb,” who will be at the Purple Door Childcare Center, the Chase Back-Up Center, and the Montessori Children’s House; and “Miss Tiffany,” a music therapist and Heart Strings Instructor in Dublin, New Albany, and Upper Arlington.

Deb Sutherland
Two of Deborah Sutherland’s favorite things are music and children. WeJoySing brings those together!

“Mrs. Deb” holds a degree in Music Therapy from the University of Dayton, with “voice” as her main instrument. Originally from Kent, Ohio, she has worked in child care centers and with children with disabilities, including deaf children and children with behavioral problems. Recalling her work with Alzheimer’s patients, she says, “I was amazed at the power of music! Patients who couldn’t remember what they had eaten for lunch ten minutes earlier could sing every word to songs they learned as children.”

Deb first became acquainted with WeJoySing when her daughter Ava (now 18 months old) was in Mrs. Beth’s class last year. “We thoroughly enjoyed it!” When Mrs. Beth announced that she was moving, Deb interviewed for the job and started teaching for WeJoySing in June, 2008. She says she loves the “laughter, smiles, and hugs” she gets as a WeJoySing teacher, and she also likes the flexibility of teaching a few days a week so that she can still be at home with Ava, her “miracle baby.”

Deb enjoys gardening, bargain shopping, laughing, scrap-booking, traveling, attending concerts, and best of all: FAMILY. She loves to spend time with Ava and with her husband, Joe, whom she describes as “an amazing man.”

A song written about Deb Sutherland’s life would have to be: “A Rock & Roll song with a good beat, because I’m high energy and can’t sit still!” WeJoySing is sure to give Mrs. Deb plenty of opportunities to burn off that energy, right alongside her young students.

Tiffany Dulmage
A second music therapist to join the WeJoySing Family this fall is Tiffany Dulmage, who grew up in Columbus, Ohio, then moved to Berea, Ohio to attend Baldwin-Wallace College, where she earned degrees in music performance and music therapy.

Tiffany’s “life song” would be Classical (Romantic Period being her favorite!) and have a title like “Changes.” Recent “changes” have brought Tiffany to a familiar place.

Two years ago, she discovered WeJoySing in a job posting on the American Music Therapy Association web site. “I remember feeling so disappointed that I had to leave then to go to school, because it was just what I would have been looking for in music therapy. I had always seen myself working with children…”

After completing her Master’s in clarinet performance (from Indiana University), she moved back to Columbus. WeJoySing was hiring new teachers and also in need of another music therapist! “Miss Tiffany” looks forward to the opportunities she’ll have to “really work with children with special needs on an individual basis and to see the changes that take place” in the WeJoySing Music Therapy setting.

In addition to playing the clarinet, Tiffany also plays piano and guitar and enjoys singing to her toy poodle, Olivia, but now has an even more engaged audience in her infant nephew, Jason, born to her twin sister this past June. She looks forward to sharing music with the children of Heart Strings as well. “So much of my musical involvement and love of music comes from growing up in a musical family and being exposed to music all throughout my childhood. With WeJoySing, I get to become a part of that experience in other families.”

A Note From Mrs. Jo
I also want you to meet our new Marketing Coordinator, Lori Bantz! Lori was a Heart Strings teacher before moving to the Cincinnati area, where she taught for the Lakota Local Schools. When she moved back to Columbus, she and her son, Nate, joined their own Heart Strings classes. After several years as a “full time Mom,” Lori returns wearing the Marketing Coordinator’s hat. She is open to creative marketing ideas from YOU-- our WeJoySing family. To contact Lori, or to schedule a FREE WeJoySing demo class for your organization, call 614-868-0107 or toll free at 1-877-299-8138.