Coe Elementary School performing arts program director Krista Carreiro directs 77 elementary students as they sing the national anthem at the Mariners’ opening weekend game on Sunday. Carreiro has taught at Coe for 30 years, instilling a love for the arts in the students.
Ben VanHouten | Mariners Director of Photography
Magnolia resident Krista Carreiro is the heart and soul of Queen Anne’s Coe Elementary School’s performing arts program. She’s been living and working in the neighborhood for the last 30 years but only experienced her largest audience to date — directing her students during a performance at a Mariners game — last Sunday.
Growing up performing
Carreiro, who grew up in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada, began her journey in performing arts when she was only 2. Her mother started her in dance classes at a very young age, and she stayed with it all through high school. She said that she was never a very good singer, but she loved it, nonetheless. Soon enough, she was helping to choreograph school musicals and show choir performances. Her commitment paid off when she got her first job as a summer camp counselor where she got to sing around the campfire and create skits to make the children laugh. This summer job also served as her introduction to teaching while she worked as a lifeguard and a swim instructor. It would be a while, however, before she made her way into her official teaching career.
Career journey
After graduating from Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia with a degree in clinical psychology, she moved to Seattle with her then-boyfriend, now husband of 30 years. She found work as an apprentice to ceramic artist Carol Gouthro. She enjoyed working with clay but ultimately realized the solitary work of a visual artist was not for her.
“I preferred the community that was a natural part of the performing arts,” she said.
A little more than 20 years ago, she gave birth to her first child, Annabelle, and began her chapter as a stay-at-home mom. And when her son Maxwell was ready to start preschool, Carreiro said she was ready to start a new career. She went back to school to earn her master’s degree in teaching and added a theater arts endorsement.
“I feel very fortunate to have found my first teaching job at Coe Elementary School,” she said.
For the last 15 years, she has been teaching performing arts, which includes music, dance and drama, to children from kindergarten through fifth grade.
Photo by Nathaniel Nagel
Coe Elementary School performing arts program director Krista Carreiro directs 77 elementary students as they sing the national anthem at the Mariners’ opening weekend game on Sunday. Carreiro has taught at Coe for 30 years, instilling a love for the arts in the students.
Teaching an appreciation for the arts
“I like that I get to introduce kids to a variety of musical genres as well as multiple styles of dance and theater,” Carreiro said. “Even if they never become artists themselves, I hope they will develop a deeper appreciation for the arts because of my program.”
Students hone many 21st century skills by participating in the arts, Carreiro said, adding that creativity, communication, collaboration, perseverance, and the ability to hold a growth mindset are all skills that she keeps at the top of her mind when developing her lesson plans. And she credits the theater curriculum for creating opportunities to incorporate even more social-emotional learning goals, which she said are needed in elementary schools now more than ever to compensate for the time students spent physically separated from their classmates during online learning.
“It is wonderful to have our Coe Cougars back on the stage,” she said.
She makes sure that each student gets to share their learning in an authentic way by actually performing for the parents and community at one or more of the school assemblies throughout the year.
To further develop the performance opportunities, Carreiro offers two afterschool clubs. Her company, Popco Productions, popcoproductions.com, offers a choir and musical theater club. The clubs are at capacity, serving about a quarter of the student body, but she may be accepting students for summer camps at Children’s Dance Workshop, childrensdanceworkshop.com, the dance school formerly directed by Lynn Beasley.
Busy spring
This spring has been a busy time as all of her groups are performing in full productions for the first time in three years. The musical theater club will be doing “Junie B. Jones the Musical JR” at Ballard High School Performing Arts Center in June. And on Sunday, Carreiro brought 77 second through fifth graders to T-Mobile Park to sing the national anthem for the Mariners’ opening weekend.
She said it was her first Major League Baseball game, but thought it was an amazing opportunity for the students.
When she was contacted by a Mariners’ representative, she knew her students would be excited to perform at the game. She created an audition of the children singing “The Star-Spangled Banner” and submitted it. Many other schools applied, and Coe students were thrilled when they were chosen, Carreiro said.
It was a lot of work for her, however, as there were a lot of logistical challenges that went into preparing for the event. Besides teaching the song and directing the choir, Carreiro coordinated tickets orders, answered parent concerns and kept the students busy for the two and a half hours between the sound check and actual performance time.
“For our first professional sports appearance, I think it went very well,” Carreiro said.