Former Thespian Leah Mueller ’08 Crafts Music and Theatre Program at Delta Middle

Leah Mueller traces her interest in singing back to fourth grade, when she started taking voice lessons. That same year, Mueller was a student at Boalsburg Elementary in David Rockower’s class. Today, she and Rockower are colleagues at Delta Middle School, where Mueller teaches music and theatre.

Unlike most schools, including those within the district, Delta Middle offers a curricular theatre program, which is funded by a private grant. “We are very fortunate,” said Mueller. “If theatre were available during the school day for all students, it would allow most students to experience the joy of theatre, even those who wouldn’t necessarily try it outside of school.”

For Mueller, theatre has proven an integral part of her education, identity, and now even her career. A 2008 State High alumna, she reflects on her SCASD experience: “My best memories are from high school when I had the opportunity to sing in many choirs and perform with the State High Thespians. I loved the musical every year, and had the opportunity to travel to France, Switzerland, and Italy and to perform the Brahms Requiem in Carnegie Hall with the State High Master Singers.”

And while her experiences at the high school level allowed Mueller to broaden and deepen her artistic skill set and inform her teaching today, she knew long prior to taking the stage in the North Building auditorium what her path would be. “The moment I first decided I wanted to be a music teacher was during a rehearsal for a musical at Mount Nittany Middle School,” she said. “We were putting on a production of The Music Man Jr., and I remember watching my peers rehearsing a number and I thought of how proud I was of them. That thought blossomed into, ‘If I’m this proud of what we’ve accomplished, think of how proud our music teacher must be!’”

After graduation, Mueller studied music education at Penn State, after which she obtained an MA in theatre studies from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in London. She returned to State College and reintegrated into the performing arts community before landing her job at the newly established Delta Middle School.

Joining Delta Middle’s team of educators during the program’s infancy has afforded Mueller and her colleagues the opportunity to take ownership of the school’s success. Keeping in line with Delta’s mission as a democratic school valuing student choice and voice, she said, “We spend a lot of our time forming a community first and focus on being a school second.”

By constantly seeking out input from her students, Mueller has seen an evolution in the program and students she oversees. “What really makes this place great is our student body,” she said. “Our students are so passionate, independent, creative, and talented.”

Delta Middle School’s puts on their first musical, The Lion King, Jr.

This year, Delta Middle’s music and theatre program put on its first musical, The Lion King Jr., along with a collaborative Spring Concert, and a production of Shakespeare’s The Tempest. Mueller said, “The most rewarding part of teaching is seeing my students succeed.”

Because Delta Middle is a new school, limitations exist that have slowed the growth of the music and theatre program. “Right now, we rely heavily on borrowing arrangements from other schools and creating our own,” said Mueller. She is determined to surmount these obstacles and continue to pass along the opportunities she was granted as a student.

Mueller’s experiences as a student and now as a teacher have engendered a deep appreciation for SCASD. “I am so glad to teach in a district that values the arts and reflects that in how the budget is allocated,” she said.