Sara Alipanah teaches infants-first graders in Washington, D.C. She has a MME from Elizabethtown College focusing on peacebuilding, social emotional learning, and ethnomusicology. She has completed First Steps in Music, Orff Level One, World Music Drumming, and Drumming Up the Fun. Her podcast, Mattering in the Music Room focuses on SEL in the Music Classroom. She has presented for local chapters and state and national conferences.