Directors
Haley Gibbons is one of two choral directors at West Des Moines Valley High School, where she has taught since 2012. She directs two curricular ensembles, Concert Choir and Valley Singers, as well as award-winning co-curricular groups: Choralation show choir and Vocal Point jazz choir. She has previously directed Vocalese Jazz Choir, A Cappella Choir, and Select Treble Clef.
Choirs under her direction have performed at the Luther College Dorian Choral Invitational and with top collegiate ensembles from Iowa State University and Drake University. In March 2019, Vocalese under her direction, was selected to perform at the National American Choral Directors Association convention.
Ms. Gibbons earned her Masters of Music Education degree from Florida State University, where she studied with Andre Thomas, Kevin Fenton, and Judy Bowers. She received her undergraduate degree from Luther College in Decorah, Iowa.
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.