About Me
Vivian Boudreaux grew up in the Mid-west, living in Indiana, Ohio and Illinois before she moved to California in 1979. She received a Bachelor's degree in Music Education from Indiana University, and a Master's degree in Flute Performance from San Jose State University. She has taught in PAUSD since 1987, first on the elementary music team, and then at Jordan when it reopened. Currently, she teaches 6th grade band, Concert Band, Advanced Band, Symphonic Band, Jazz Band, and All-City Honor Band. She enjoys team-teaching Jordan Bands with David Brigham.
Mrs. Boudreaux is a professional flutist, and free-lances with many Bay Area ensembles including West Bay Opera, Redwood Consort Woodwind Quintet, Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra, and the Oratorio Society.
She was recently married to Kent Mikasa, a professional trumpet player and private teacher who has also worked for with PAUSD for many years. They have happily settled into a charming home in the old part of Mountain View, near Castro Street and the Mountain View Center for Performing Arts.
Mrs. Boudreaux has two sons: Gabe, majoring in computer engineering at UC Santa Barbara, and Andrew. Andrew is deaf, and attends school at the Jackson Hearing Center at Fairmeadow Elementary School in Palo Alto. Andrew has worked hard to learn to hear and talk with the help of hearing aids and the excellent teachers at his school.
Parenting a hearing impaired child has provided Mrs. Boudreaux with meaningful insights into teaching children with special needs, and opened doors to many wonderful friendships and experiences with members of the Deaf community. The movie "Mr. Holland's Opus," a story about music teacher, his wife, and their deaf child, was released shortly after Andrew's hearing loss was discovered. It was a very emotional, but validating, movie experience for Mrs. Boudreaux.
Mrs. Boudreaux's interests include gardening, cooking, and collecting antiques, and visiting old cemeteries when traveling. If she can ever find the time, she would like to take classes in American Sign Languages, and paint with oils and watercolor.