Lauren Ballou is in her 20th year of teaching choral music with the last 15 years spent at the middle school level.  She currently teaches at Liberty Middle School with the Papillion LaVista Community Schools. Prior to teaching in Papillion, Ballou taught with the Elkhorn Public Schools for 11 years,  the Barrington Public Schools near Chicago, Ill. and with the Millard Public Schools in Omaha, Neb.  

Ballou received a master's degree from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, where she was involved in the Scarlet & Cream Singers as an undergraduate. Ballou has appeared throughout Omaha and Iowa as a guest judge, clinician and choreographer. 

In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her 11-year-old twins and 7-year-old daughter, sewing, reading and golfing with her husband, Casey.