Sarah Van Kleeck - Founder and Teacher of Practice Monkeys

Sarah Van Kleeck

Founder and Teacher

Sarah has been teaching Suzuki Violin for 29 years.  Equipped with the gift of private instruction throughout childhood, high school, college, and Suzuki Teacher training, Sarah dove into teaching with a heartfelt passion at a young age, seeking success for each of her young students.  

Throughout her teaching career, Sarah has honed her teaching to include, not just technique, repertoire, and theory, but also whole person traits like patience, attention, determination, perseverance, problem solving, follow-through, organization, vision and imagination among other traits.

She passionately seeks to help her students develop the habits to become excellent people, who not only recognize beauty in the world but also desire to give that gift of beauty.  

​Utilizing her background in Suzuki Philosophy as well as Classical and Poetic Educational Principles, she weaves practical instruction with inspiration and poetic knowledge to aid the student in discovering Truth, Goodness, and Beauty using the violin as a vehicle to become excellent people, as well as excellent musicians.  

Jayana Pyant - Piano Teacher

Jayana Pyant

Piano Teacher

Jayana Pyant was born in Lansing, Michigan on March 10, 1984. She learned to play the piano at the young age of 5 years old where she studied piano under Lansing’s Earl Nelson Singers distinguished choir director, Verna Holley.  She expanded her musical repertoire by learning to play the clarinet and oboe in her high school marching band and symphonic band while maintaining her skills as a pianist in her high school musical theater and jazz band. She also sang mezzo soprano and alto for the Michigan State Children’s Choir. Jayana completed her early music education by earning high honors and several certifications from the Michigan Music Teachers National Association and Music Guild in Piano.  Jayana went on to earn her undergraduate degree the United States Military Academy at West Point (2006), with a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Arabic and French, where Jayana also sang as a soprano in the Gospel Choir.  Jayana was commissioned as an Army officer and served honorably in the US Army as a Military Intelligence Officer for seven years, earning a Bronze Star for her deployment in Support of Operation Enduring Freedom, Afghanistan.  While serving, she earned her Master’s of Science degree in International Administration from Central Michigan University in 2011. In 2009 she married the love of her life William Pyant, also an Army Officer.  She resigned her commission as an Army Officer in order to raise a family.  Jayana began taking Suzuki Piano training first with the “Every Child Can” course at Temple University (2015), and proceeded with the Suzuki Piano teacher courses levels 1-4 at the Blue Lake Suzuki Institute (2016-2018) in Michigan studying under teacher trainer Marilyn Andersen from Wheaton College, Illinois.  Jayana participated in the Associated Board for the Royal Schools of Music Exam (2016, NY), sending students to the level 1 and level 2 exam with passing grades.  Jayana went on to study under Dr. Olivia Zimmerman at the Kansas City School of Music (2018) and Kansas State University (2019) under Barbara Mirano.  Jayana has taught piano and music appreciation to beginner and intermediate students from ages 5 to 16.  Currently, Jayana teaches piano to her own five children, and has been homeschooling for 6 years.  She enjoys volunteering in the community, at church, and working with children.

Deb Peterson - Violin Teacher

Deb Peterson

Violin Teacher

Deb lives in the Peoria, IL area where she and her husband homeschool their 8 children.  She received her degree in Bible, music, and children’s ministries from University of Northwestern, St. Paul, where she studied violin with Minnesota Orchestra associate concertmaster, Roger Frisch. She has studied Suzuki pedagogy under trainers such as Ed Kreitman and Ed Sprunger at the American Suzuki Institute in Stevens Point, WI. She has taught violin for over 20 years and is currently a first violinist in the Peoria Pops orchestra and plays regularly with her church worship team.

Ashton Gentry - Guitar Teacher

Ashton Gentry

Guitar Teacher

Miss Ashton loves the way playing the guitar allows her to express herself musically. Miss Ashton is trained on classical guitar as well as contemporary style on the electric guitar. She is attending Berklee College of Music and is excited to be studying their program in professional studies on the guitar. Ashton loves music theory and dreams of being a music theory professor in a college one day.  

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