Kevin Dengel is Orchestra Director at Gahanna Lincoln High School and Middle School East (Gahanna, Ohio). He holds a Masters in Music (MM) from Kent State University (2014) and a Bachelors in Music Education (BME) from The Ohio State University (2007). Mr. Dengel’s professional interests include Arts advocacy, music literacy, educational research, neuroscience, composing/arranging, community outreach and parent involvement, and the use of social media and technology to enhance instruction. Having previously taught in Barrington, Illinois, it is his thirteenth year in the classroom. Mr. Dengel enjoys collaborating with colleagues, across content areas, and exposing students to high-quality literature. Since returning to teach at his alma mater, the district’s orchestra program has more than doubled in size and increased its outreach and presence in the community. He is former South-Central Region Chair for the Ohio Music Education Association (OMEA), a member of the National Association for Music Education (NAfME), American String Teachers Association (ASTA) and the American Society of Composers, Arrangers and Publishers (ASCAP). Mr. Dengel lives in Gahanna, Ohio, with his wife, Megan, and their three sons.

Jana Ross is the Orchestra Director at Middle School West and an Assistant Director at Middle School South and Lincoln High School in Gahanna. She holds a Bachelor of Music in Violin Performance from Oberlin Conservatory (1995), a Master of Music in Violin Performance from Rice University (1998), and Teaching Licensure from Otterbein University (2016). Mrs. Ross looks forward to the next few decades as a public school teacher! Mrs. Ross has served on the faculty of Chamber Music Connection in Worthington, James River Day School in Lynchburg, VA, Otterbein, Hollins, and Texas A&M Universities, and Sweet Briar, Randolph, and Del Mar Colleges. She has taught private lessons on violin and viola for over twenty years. Mrs. Ross moved to Westerville in the fall of 2012 with her husband, Nick Ross, Head of Keyboard Studies at Otterbein University, and two sons. Since that time, she has performed extensively in Central Ohio as soloist, chamber musician and orchestral player. She has served as concertmaster of Opera Project Columbus, principal second violin with the Central Ohio and Westerville Symphonies, and has also played frequently with the Columbus Symphony. Mrs. Ross is a member of the Ohio Music Education Association (OMEA), The National Association for Music Education (NAfME) and The American String Teachers Association (ASTA).

​"Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself." - John Dewey