Elise Peterson is in her tenth year as Director of Choirs for Olathe South High School and has worked in the choral music field for over thirty years. Before South, Elise taught at Shawnee Mission South, Olathe-Pioneer Trail Middle School, Hays High School, and Garnett-Anderson County Junior-Senior High School. She has directed festival choirs, show choirs, and more than 40 major musical productions. Her groups consistently have earned "1" ratings at Kansas Regional Solo & Ensemble Festivals as well as State Large Group Festivals. In 2018 and again in 2024, the Olathe South High School Southside Singers were selected to perform for the Kansas Music Educators Association’s Annual Convention. In 2021, Elise was recognized by the Kansas Music Educators Association as the State’s Outstanding Music Educator of the Year. In 2024, Elise was awarded the Educator Excellence Award by the Olathe School District Foundation.

In addition to serving as Olathe School District HS Choral Co-Facilitator and the Kansas Music Educators Association Co-Mentor Chair, Elise has served as president of the East Central and Northeast KMEA Districts. Elise serves as the choir director for Kansas Musicians Abroad, an organization that travels to Europe in the summers. In her spare time she loves performing, whether appearing in musical theater, leading music at church, soloing at weddings or singing with professional groups. She sang for two seasons with the Grammy-winning Kansas City Chorale.

Elise is an Olathe native and a graduate of Olathe North High School. She holds an Associate of Arts Degree from Johnson County Community College, as well as both Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Music Education from Emporia State University.