Burt's Second Act Piano Studio, LLC

Mrs. Smith-Burt grew up in Cheyenne, and has been participating in music and dance since she was six years old, and teaching since she was 13. She has been singing since age 2, and playing the piano and violin since she was 8.

She has taken dance lessons since the age of 6, has had roles in many major productions including The Nutcracker and Cinderella ballets and has danced with professionals from the Alvin Ailey Dance, David Taylor, Eugene, and Colorado Ballet Companies. She began to teach dance at age 14.  

Musically, Mrs. Smith-Burt has played the violin, guitar, piano, and other instruments. She began teaching private violin and piano lessons at age 13, and was part of her high school orchestra and chamber orchestras. She was also part of both her junior high and high school concert and jazz choirs which received numerous awards and high rating at various music festivals. She received the Guild of Piano Teachers Sonatina Award when she was 14 years old, and also received recognition for her playing from both her school and community. While in junior high and high school she played weekly at area senior citizens homes and has played every style of music written for the piano. 

Mrs. Smith-Burt has both her Bachelors and Masters Degrees in Music Education from the University of Northern Colorado, and while there received numerous awards, scholarships and recognitions for both her performance and teaching abilities. She has also played with the UNC Jazz Lab Bands, and the UNC Symphonic Band. In the Summer of 2004 she earned her certification in the Orff Program Levels One and Two. Mrs. Smith-Burt has also helped encourage students to become music teachers by allowing Music Education students to come observe her classes and student teach with her. 

For six years, Mrs. Smith-Burt taught general music, choir and jazz band to students in kindergarten through high school at schools in Greeley, CO.  In addition, she was very involved in the day-to-day running of the music department at each school and was responsible for helping to write and edit  music newsletters, creating and maintaining the music department website, and coordinating fundraising efforts for the music department. Over the three years that she taught there, her University Schools After-School Arts groups performed at community events as well as the UNC/Greeley Jazz Festival where they received I ratings.  Miss Smith has also taught jazz band, Arts on the Move, and general music classes for the ‘College for Kids’ program at Aims Community College in Greeley. 

Recently,  Mrs. Smith-Burt chose to enter a Masters in Clinical Mental Health Counseling program. This new educational journey has helped equip her with tools to more effectively teach all of her students. 

In 2009, Mrs. Smith-Burt came back home to Cheyenne, and has taught at Saddle Ridge Elementary School since it opened. Since she has been home she has helped design the curriculum for elementary General Music, Elementary Band, and PALS music programs, as well as the PROS social emotional program.  At the end of the 2020-2021 school year, she decided to take a leave of absence from teaching with Laramie County School District 1 for the 2021-2022 school year. 

Her hobbies include traveling, photography, hiking, camping, spending time with her family and fur babies-Winston and Tommy, drawing and painting, reading, crocheting, playing music, working in her yard,and volunteering for local non-profit organizations. 

Mrs. Smith–Burt looks forward to getting to know her new students, getting to know former students in a new way and to see her students grow in their ability to play piano this year.