Meet DCMEA's Executive Board

Joshua Krohn has been an elementary music specialist, secondary band and choral director, elementary music clinician, professional developer, and private music instructor. He earned his Bachelors and Masters degrees in Music Education from Virginia Commonwealth University and his PhD in Music Education from Boston University. He has also completed his work in National Board Certification for Early/Middle Childhood Music. Over his nineteen years of teaching, he has led full-scale Broadway-style musicals, before-school orchestras, choirs, wind ensembles, guitar ensembles, recorder ensembles, theater clubs, and after-school tutoring for thousands of Washington, DC, Public Schools (DCPS) elementary students. Since 2009 Krohn has led close to 60 music professional development sessions both locally and nationally. By 2010 Krohn was leading more than 110 DCPS music teachers in quarterly professional developments. Since 2012, he has been nominated for D.C. Teacher of the Year seven times, and since 2014, he has been nominated for the National LifeChanger of the Year award three times. Krohn has also been three nominated for a Grammy Music Educator Award and is a current quarterfinalist.  In 2016 Krohn was a District Course Chair for DCPS music as well as one of the A.C.E. Fellows for Music in DCPS. Krohn has also educated students with mild cognitive impairments through severe cognitive impairments, students with learning and emotional disabilities, and students in urban settings, and has led professional development sessions based on teaching special learners.

DCMEA Treasurer Chad Harris has spent 17 years creating dynamic and engaging music lessons for his students. He has taught in Florida, Alabama, and South Korea, and now teaches elementary music at Stanton Elementary School in Southeast Washington, DC. Harris’s DC performing groups have participated in music festivals at the Kennedy Center’s Millennial and Family stages, where their performances have received the superior rating. Additionally, Harris has received two “Teacher of the Year” awards while teaching in Florida and Alabama. In DC, Harris currently serves as the Teacher Selection Ambassador for Music, conducting all job interviews for incoming music teachers. During his first year in DC, he was awarded the very selective Capital Commitment Fellowship and was given a seat on the DC Chancellor’s Teachers Cabinet. Harris was also placed on the music curriculum writing team, and his lessons are now in the DC music curriculum.

Gilette Brown has been a music educator for over 15 years. A proud graduate of the world-renowned Boys/Girls Choir of Harlem, Gilette earned her BA in music education from The University of Maryland Eastern Shore and a master’s degree in Educational Leadership from George Mason University. She currently teaches at Savoy Elementary school where she has piloted various music initiatives to include; Savoy Glee Club, annual musicals, and partnerships with various performing arts programs. Gilette is a true advocate of partnerships through music education, including Kennedy Center DC Collaborative Partnerships and Washington performing Arts program that allow students to connect through field trips, on site residencies and various learning opportunities. Gilette believes that music educators can play a key and significant role in student achievement.