About Hannah
Dr. Hannah Gadd Ardrey has been an educator for ten years and has the privilege of making music with 7th and 8th graders in choir and piano classes at Oxford Middle School in Oxford, Mississippi. She has received numerous recognitions for her work in the classroom. Her passion and dedication to her students and craft led to her being named the Lafayette High School Teacher of the Year and the Lafayette County School District Teacher of the Year in 2018. That same year, Ardrey was named the 2019-2020 Mississippi Teacher of the Year and was honored to represent Mississippi teachers as a member of the 2020 Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) National Teacher of the Year cohort. In 2021, Ardrey received the NEA Foundation’s California Casualty Award for Teaching Excellence, was a quarterfinalist for the 2021 Grammy Music Educator Award, and served as a Mississippi Teach Plus Policy Fellow.
Ardrey is a proud National Board Certified Teacher and utilizes M.U.S.I.C. as a tool to motivate, understand, and support independent citizens in and out of her classroom. As the Advocacy Chair for the Mississippi Music Educators Association (MMEA) board, she represents Mississippi’s music educators nationally as a National Association for Music Education (NAfME) Advocacy Leadership Force member. She is an alumna of the Mississippi Beta Chapter of Pi Beta Phi Fraternity and has been a chapter advisor for seven years. Ardrey received a Bachelor of Music in vocal music education (2013) and a Master of Music in choral conducting (2015) from the University of Mississippi. She graduated with an Ed.S. in Educational Leadership (2021) and an Ed.D. in Educational Leadership (2024) from William Carey University. Hannah’s husband, Thomas Ardrey, is the choir director at Oxford High School. They wear many hats, but their favorite titles are Mom and Dad to their two-year-old little boy, Smith. The Ardrey family resides in Oxford with their dog Norman and are members of St. Peter’s Episcopal Church.