Hello and welcome back to another exciting year of making music. There are many new things happening this year and I can already tell that it will be a good one. My name is Mike Kren and I am the Coal City Choir Director. I will be teaching at the HS and the MS so I may have multiple of your students across 6th grade all the way up to 12th grade. I am so happy to have all of your students and can't wait to see what this year holds.

I will be using smore letters again this year to keep you updated throughout the year. Somethings may be repeated from letter to letter, but these will serve as reminders to upcoming events. There also may be links attached to sections in order to get the information out.

This year and next year I will be working on achieving my National Board certification. The purpose of the National Board certification is to push teachers to high standards and reflect on their teaching practice. In the classroom, I will be at times taking student work and using those as evidence of my teaching. The sample work submitted is not to evaluate your students, they are used to evaluate me. You can find more information about the National Board at this link.

If I plan to use your students work, I will send home a release form to make sure everyone is alright with it.

YOU CAN STILL SIGN UP

MARCH 22-27, 2025

MANDATORY MEETING ON SEPTEMBER 9TH @6:00P IN THE COAL CITY PUBLIC LIBRARY ANEX

Registration Link

September 9th @7:00p

This year booster meetings will be held at the Coal City Public Library Anex Building on the back side of the library.

Friday, August 30th 4:00p-6:00p

This year students that are in Concert Singers will be attending the ICE Choral Festival. This is a great opportunity to meet students in our conference and have fun singing with them. More detaisl will come

All day event with a concert at the end of the day

Hosted in Peotone this year

NOVEMBER 6TH

All students have the opportunity to audition for ILMEA. This is a great opportunity to practice your skills and work on some more difficult music. All students have access to the materials on their Google Classroom. If they need assistance or want extra help please reach out to me and I can schedule a time to go over things.

Videos are due to Mr. Kren no later than October 1st.

September 9th @ 6:00p - Disney Meeting

September 9th @7:00p - Music Booster Meeting

September 24th @7:00p - Fall Concert (Concert Singers)

September 24th @6:30p - Footnotes @ Cornfest

October 1st - ILMEA Auditions Due

October 17, 19, 20, 26, 27 - Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

November 9th - ILMEA Sr. Festival

November 11th - Footnotes @ Gardner Veterans Day Ceremony

November 15, 16,17 - MS Musical

November 18th @7:00p - Music Booster Meeting

November 23rd - ILMEA Jr. Festival

December 3rd @7:00p - HS Band Concert

December 5th @7:00p - 5th/6th Grade Band Concert

December 10th @7:00p - HS Choir Concert

December 17th @7:00p - MS Band Concert

December 19th @7:00p - MS Choir Concert

January 13th @7:00p - Music Booster Meeting

January 30,31, February 1st - ILMEA State Festival

February 23rd @1p-4p - Fine Arts Festival

March 7, 8, 9, 10,1 4, 15, 16 - HS Musical

March 20th @ 6:30p - Kindergarten Concert

March 22nd-27th - Band/Choir Disney Trip

April 3rd @7:00p - 4th Grade Concert

April 5th - MS Solo and Ensemble

April 10th @6:30p - 1st Grade Concert

April 15th @7:00p - Music Honor Society Induction

April 16th @7:00p - 5th Grade Concert

April 23 @7:00p - MS Choir Concert

April 24th @7:00p - 2nd Grade Concert

April 29th @7:00p - HS Choir Concert

May 1st @7:00p - 3rd Grade Concert

May 3rd - MS/ IESA Organizational Contest

May 6th @7:00p - HS Band Concert

May 8th @7:00p - MS Band Concert

8:20 - 9:40: Coaler Choir (A) /Music in Film (B)

9:45 - 11:15: Piano (A) /Concert Singers (B)

11:15 - 12:16: Lunch/Travel

12:16-12:54 - 6th Grade Music

12:56-1:32 - 8th Grade Choir

1:34-2:12 - 7th Grade Choir

2:12-3:20 - Plan

My name is Mike Kren if you have not met me yet. I grew up in Morris and have been elated about being back in the area. After High School, I went to Olivet Nazarene University and graduated in 2020 with a degree in Music Education. This will be my third year at Coal City and I am excited to see even more growth in your students musical skills.

More about me: I love to ski and hang out on the Illinois river. I also love to hang out with my puppy Link who is now 2 years old!