Photo by Erin Nelson Sweeney
Melissa McIntyre, the music teacher at Vestavia Hills Elementary Liberty Park, works with first graders as they learn the first portion of a patriotic concert on Jan. 9, 2024.
Melissa McIntyre, a music teacher at Vestavia Hills Elementary Liberty Park, has been named the 2025 Outstanding Music Educator by the Alabama Music Educators Association.
McIntyre , who was Vestavia Hills’ Elementary Teacher of the Year last year, went to the University of Montevallo, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in music education in 1996.
She went to work at McAdory Elementary School as a music teacher in 1996 and stayed there 21 years, before moving to Liberty Park Elementary in 2017. She earned her master’s degree in music education from Montevallo along the way in 2000.
She is now in her eighth year at Liberty Park, where she works with about 600 children. In addition to regular music classes, McIntyre leads a handbell group of first graders called the Ring-Dingers and fourth and fifth graders who make up the Liberty Park Singers and Liberty Park Orff Ensemble that plays instruments.
McIntyre served as the director of the Alabama Music Educators Association Elementary Music Festival each October for at least five years.
