Claire Pellett

Upon the 2023 school year beginning, another new face may pass you in the halls. Mikayla Stockhaus is just one of AHS’ newest additions. As she begins the journey of leading the Trojan choir department, Stockhaus shares with us details of her pastimes. 

Stockhaus is already familiar with AHS, as she is an Atlantic alumnus from kindergarten until she graduated in 2013. Growing up, she knew she had a calling for music, and by eighth grade, she had decided she wanted to become a choir or a band director. Stockhaus said that her high school choir teacher, Luke Lovegood, definitely inspired her to pursue this path. 

After she graduated from AHS, Stockhaus received her bachelor’s degree in music education from Iowa State in 2017. Then, she attained a master’s degree in choral education from the University of Akron, Ohio, where her husband was stationed. “I love how the Trojan community actually supports the school, and how the school gives back to the community,” said Stockhaus. “You know you don’t see that in all of the places I’ve worked in the past six years, that’s not the case.” 

Stockhaus views her duties as a high school teacher as a way to let kids connect and find pieces of themselves they never knew were there.  “My job is to take any student that walks into my classroom and wants to sing, and turn them into a singer,” said Stockhaus. She aims to create a “choral community” within the student body and bring back numbers that were lost to COVID-19. She wants to create a community that’s supportive of one another and those who choose to sing. 

Outside of school and choir, Stockhaus loves hiking, reading, and “ultimately being around people.” Stockhaus said, “I went into education because I simply love people.” As for hiking, Glacier National Park is her favorite place. She recently did a fifteen-mile hike with her husband that “just about killed me (her)” but she was so glad they did it because it “was one hundred percent worth it in the end.”