Welcome!! My name is Monica Ruddy-DuQuette and I was born in Albany, New York. I graduated from the Guilderland School District and went on to study music at the College of Saint Rose where I graduated with both a B.S. and M.S. in Music Education. After spending the summer traveling the British Isles and Western Europe, I taught in the Enlarged City School District of Troy, NY for 12 years. During this time I taught elementary band, middle school general music, and directed the high school pit orchestra for the spring musicals. I also performed on my clarinet with various groups and on my second major, tenor sax for the Nisky Cats, a Dixieland group.  Many great memories were had playing Reed 2 at the Cohoes Music Hall as well.

In 2002 my family and I moved to Tampa Bay where I landed my first general music job at Trinity Elementary and then have been an Odessa Wildcat since it’s opening in 2010. We are very involved in exploring with your children the many aspects of the fine arts through class time and extracurricular activities, such as Chorus and both the Orff and Ukulele Ensembles.

If you have any questions about getting involved with Odyssey of the Mind, I was a coach and coordinator for many years here at Odessa when my own children participated and would love to share this with our Wildcat parents and students.  Please email me to learn how you can coach your child’s team and watch them grow in a different aspect of creativity!