Directors

Haley Gibbons serves as one of three choir directors at Valley High School in West Des Moines, Iowa, where she leads traditional, show, and jazz ensembles. She conducts two curricular choirs: Valley Singers, a select-auditioned chamber choir, and Concert Choir, Valley’s non-auditioned large ensemble. Outside of the school day, Ms. Gibbons leads two co-curricular groups: Choralation varsity show choir and Vocal Point prep jazz choir. 

Choirs under Ms. Gibbons's direction have twice performed at the prestigious American Choral Directors Association National Convention: Valley Singers in 2023 and Vocalese Jazz Choir in 2019. In addition, Valley Singers are frequent guests on collaborative concerts with collegiate groups, including choirs from Iowa State University, Drake University, and Luther College. In 2023, Ms. Gibbons was named Outstanding High School Choral Educator by the Iowa Choral Directors Association. Her students are frequently selected to be members of the Iowa All State Choir, the Iowa All State Jazz Choir, and other regional and national honors ensembles. She is frequently in demand as a guest speaker, clinician, and adjudicator for choirs, soloists, jazz choirs, and show choirs.

Ms. Gibbons is currently a teaching artist at Drake University where she leads the Show Choir/Jazz Choir methods class, and she served as chair for the Iowa All State Jazz Choir from 2019 to 2023. She is a summa cum laude graduate of Luther College and of Florida State University, where she earned her Masters of Music Education. Ms. Gibbons lives in West Des Moines with her husband and son.

Heather Nail is a graduate of Drake University where she received her Bachelor of Music Education with Vocal Emphasis and Master of Science in Education Leadership degrees. She has been teaching in West Des Moines for eleven years. She is originally from Norwalk, IA. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her husband, Ryan, and daughter, Hailey.

Prior to joining the Southwoods school community, Mrs. Nail taught preschool for seven years and was named the 2006 Early Childhood Educator of the Year.  She then taught elementary general music for the Des Moines Public Schools. During her time in Des Moines, she was a part of the Great American Singing Challenge with a mission of creating “A musically able and active population” through the use of sight-singing computer technology. She also worked closely with fellow teachers to create Artful Learning units following the Leonard Bernstein model of teaching, which incorporates music, visual and kinesthetic arts practices into the delivery of other academic subjects. In 2009 she served as the music department representative on the Iowa Core Implementation Team for the district.

Mrs. Nail has had opportunities to help with auditions for the Heartland Youth Choir, to lead sectional rehearsals for the Des Moines Public Schools Elementary Honors Choir, and to adjudicate for solo contest at Stilwell Jr. High in West Des Moines.  While at Drake she also worked closely with John Armstrong during his workshops, gained experience in teaching using the Comprehensive Musicianship through Performance model, and has obtained levels one and two Orff music teaching certification, and level one Kodaly music teaching certification.

Heather is currently a member of the National Association for Music Education, the Iowa Choral Directors Association, and Jazz Educators of Iowa. Mrs. Nail currently serves as the Iowa Vocal Jazz Championships Chair and serves the West Des Moines School district as a representative on the building and district leadership teams, and the West Des Moines Teacher Leadership Committee. In 2017, she was the first recipient of the Barbershop Harmony Society/ NAfME Music Educator Award.

Chloe McCartney is an alum of Drake University, graduating Summa Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Music Education in 2015. While at Drake, her collegiate accomplishments included being a state and regional finalist at NATS (National Association for Teachers of Singing) and receiving an Encouragement Award at the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions for two consecutive years. 

At Valley Southwoods, she conducts Treble Clef, Bass Clef, Southwoods Singers, Ignition show choir, and Syncopation jazz choir.  In addition to her teaching position, Chloe teaches voice lessons out of her home in Clive and is an active member of ICDA and NAfME. Prior to Valley Southwoods, she taught 5-12 vocal music at Sibley-Ocheyedan CSD and 6-12 vocal music at Prairie City-Monroe CSD. In her free time, Chloe enjoys cooking, being outdoors, and spending time with her husband, Ben, and daughters, Emery & Ellia.