Harkrader Takes the Stage

New FCHS Choir teacher Sara Harkrader has been singing in a choir since she was five years old. Now she shares her expertise by directing it.

Since she was a child, Harkrader sang anywhere she could manage. She took piano and voice lessons and sang in children’s choirs, church choirs, professional choirs, school musicals, and even operas. “Much to my parents’ mortification,” said Harkrader, “I would even try to climb on the stage with live performers if we went to a show or concert.”

She said she has always wanted to be a teacher from an extremely young age. “I remember sitting in my first grade classroom and plotting that one day I would be the one that got to write on the board,” she said. Another inspiration was her choir director in her senior year, when Harkrader was a delegate for the All Delaware State Choir. “I knew that I wanted to be a choir teacher from that moment on,” she explained.

Harkrader lived in Delaware through all of high school and graduated from the University of Lynchburg. Harkrader taught for nine years in Lynchburg before moving to Louisa with her husband, two children, Joan and Clyde, and a pit bull named Mr. Darcy.

She said she enjoys teaching students to sing and make music. “They energize me and make every day different,” she added. “It brings me a lot of joy.”

When Harkrader isn’t teaching students to sing, she spends her time cooking, baking, and listening to podcasts.