President’s Report, March 2007

* Our first ever board meeting via ATM video on January 22 was a great success(!), with much thanks to our VPA consultant Argy Nestor who helped set this up and ran the tech side of things. It went so well, we decided as a Board to hold our March meeting the same way. That meeting will take place at ONE THIRTY at the Caribou Technical Center, Thornton Academy (Saco), the Cross Building at the Capitol in Augusta and Bangor High School. While we almost unanimously agreed to do it this way again, we feel just as strongly that it is not an adequate substitute for being in person, so these ATM Board Meetings will likely only occur during the winter months in the years to come. Technology has really made a splash both with these meetings as well as National Webcasts and it is cool to finally be utilizing this stuff in a meaningful and beneficial way.

* The Maine Alliance for Arts Education worked with Rep Emily Cain to submit the bill last week raising the VPA graduation requirement to two years. This was in lieu of the Commissioner's now withdrawn bill to change (raise) graduation requirements in other areas. We are not expecting the bill to go through under the circumstances, but Emily and the Arts Alliance decided to move forward with it just the same to keep awareness of VPA needs at the forefront - a GOOD thing!

* This is the season for massive Jazz activities and, while I am not actively involved in any way, I do want to send my congrats to everyone associated with the HUGE array of organization that goes into all the
Festivals at the district and state levels with a well deserved tip of the hat to Chris Humphrey doing yeoman’s work in his first year as Jazz
Chair.

* A letter was sent out to the membership a week ago outlining the timetable for the legislative Chapter that has to do with VPA among other disciplines. Anyone who has not seen this should contact me immediately to receive a copy. The point in disseminating this is to pre-empt any attempts to marginalize our discipline on the part of administrators (or anyone else for that matter) by attempting to self interpret its delayed approval.

* The Eastern Division Conference in Hartford was one of the very best I’ve ever seen. They’re always great, but especially with Eastern Division and the CTMEA running the show for the very first time, I felt like it connected even more than usual. Quite a few Mainiacs were down there and it was great to see such a turnout. Congrats to Barbara Packales, Bob Russell and Jan Smith (still a Mainer at heart!) for running outstanding workshops.

* At our state ABC (Arts Are Basic Coalition) meeting on February 22nd, we were told that there will be a statewide Visual and Performing Arts Conference on Sunday and Monday, October 28 and 29, 2007 at the Samoset in Rockport. Details will be forthcoming after a planning meeting on
March 21st. Mike Davis has agreed to be there on behalf of MMEA, but additional music teacher attendance would be great, MMEA Board member or not. Be sure to contact me if you or someone you know is interested in attending.

* The MMEA All State Conference and Festival plans are in overdrive and running well to this point. Nancy Cash Cobb, Ted Nokes and Jonathan
Carsley are working hard to make this the best weekend yet. BOC
Managers Linda Vallaincourt, Kim Murphy and Dan Sovetsky are already neck deep in organizational details as well. Stay posted for upcoming announcements.

* Advocacy Day festivities in Augusta earlier this month went really well thanks in large part to Adam Newton who set up our MMEA materials.

Congrats - and thanks - to all MMEA folks who attended this important event just a day before the Hartford conference began.

* Board members, please have all your agenda items in my in-box this weekend for our meeting on the 25th.

* I am always so impressed with what I see every year out of our organization, but serving as President gives me the opportunity now to observe with even more detail what remarkable volunteer work goes on a daily basis, largely without fanfare or notice. I couldn’t be more proud of MMEA these days!!! Thanks to all of you for the work you are doing for Music Education in Maine.

-Rob Westerberg


President Elect Report

As others have already said, the Eastern Conference
was a class act; the best one I've been to. The CMEA
contingent should be congratulating themselves on
proving to MENC that the division conference can be
done, and done better, on the local level.

For me, the highlight was seeing, and hearing, BARRAGE
perform on Friday night. What an experience for the
kids, especially the boys as it turned out, to see
such musicianship and energy sustained over an hour
and a half. It was exhausting just to watch. There
were so many excellent sessions to choose from, and
always at the same time, that it became a juggling act
to see a little of this and a little of that. I also
had the opportunity to connect with Connecticut board
members who will be going to Orlando at the end of
June.

Many thanks to Michelle for hosting an excellent
reception for GSC, UMPG and USM alumna and friends.
Good food makes good neighbors.

A big plus was not having a major storm either on the
way down or back which had become a tradition for the
Eastern conference.

All State - I have contacted the executive producer of 207 on WCSH 6, Becki Smith, regarding air time on the show for All State coverage. She replied that she will take the idea to her team and determine if it's something they would like to do with no indication when that decision will be made.

As for instrumental audition changes, I agree with Kim that while a few changes will be made for next year, primarily in the brass, major changes won't be doable until the fall 2008. It's too big a project and it would be a mistake to try to rush it through in time for 2007.

Roger is the only one to volunteer to help update the handbook. Thanks, Roger. In a conversation with Rob at Hartford, we thought that the directory of District schools should not be included but posted on the website. Does this require a vote of approval from the board? Do all changes have to be approved by the board? Are there other sections that should be on the website and not in the handbook? Should it contain only the constitution, by-laws, state festival information and the forms for nominating teacher, administrators and others for recognition? Input please.

Looking forward to the 25th or will we be snowed out as the D3 6th grade festival was, again, today.

Sam (Silvia) Moore-Young
President-Elect
yeomoore1954@yahoo.com
224-7349

State Director Report
Results of the Large Group Survey

Twenty seven people responded to the survey about Large Group Festival. The results of the first question were very mixed. About half would like to see MMEA continue status quo. Of the other half, most would like to see District Festivals as a prerequisite to attending the state festival. Three thought we should have District Festivals only.

Almost all believe the major focus of Large Group Festival should be to receive comments and suggestion for improvement for the director and the ensemble. The second strongest reason is compete “against oneself” to determine how well the ensemble is performing. Nine like the idea of a rating and three believe it is important to determine who is best.

The comments were very thoughtful and made some strong suggestions. Below is a compilation and summary of those comments.

* Students should be encouraged – even required – to listen to the performances of at least two other ensembles.
* Performances should be held in a good concert hall.
* Adjudicators should judge the ensemble as is, not criticize the instrumentation.
* Competition creates more interest – witness the jazz festivals. Leave the option.
* Large Group Festival provides an outside performance venue for the “average” student who might not get to attend the more elite festivals.
* The comments made by the adjudicators reinforce what the director has already said but they carry more weight because they come from an “expert.” (how true, how true!!)
* Directors have enough extra dates, they don’t need two festivals (District and State). This was from one who suggested District festivals only.
* If we went to district festivals, perhaps some of the districts could combine, at least in the beginning, instead of requiring 7 separate festivals. (Just a thought, if two districts worked together, perhaps one could host Solo & Ensemble and one, Large Group.)
* Clinics and comments are very important for the improvement of an ensemble. It would be nice if Large Group Festival were as important as Jazz Festival.
* Scheduling is the biggest problem with Large Group Festival – especially competition with sports events.
* Some directors bring their elementary groups to the District Large Group but would not travel the distance for the state event.



Some conclusions

Large Group Festivals are valuable.

Elementary, Middle and High School ensembles would benefit from performing for adjudication and listening to other similar ensembles.

It would be nice to go to a District/State format like we have for Jazz but the schedules are probably too full.

District Festivals, within a shorter driving distance, would probably receive support from more schools, IF they could be scheduled without major conflicts.

Perhaps smaller District Festivals could be held on a weekday afternoon and evening and avoid some of the scheduling conflict.

This is a subject worthy of an MMEA Board discussion.

Faith Varney, State Director


Some random thoughts following the Eastern Division Conference.

The Conn.MEA did an excellent job of organizing and hosting the conference and All-Eastern Ensembles. They did this Herculean task in a little over eight months. Several of the Maine attendees pitched in by “manning” the registration desk for 2 hours on Friday. I believe we can and should do more to assist now that this event is “owned” by Eastern Division. We’ll be in Rhode Island in 2009 and Baltimore in 2011.


I saw people in Hartford that I had no idea would be attending. We need a way, within the state, to communicate interest in attending these out-of-state conferences. We might do a better job of car pooling and maybe even room sharing. And we could meet for a Maine coffee break (if not a lunch or dinner.)

Congratulation to: Barbara Packales who presented a clinic on Developing a Standards Based Curriculum and to Michele Kaschub who presented a clinic on Composition in Grades 6-8 and, along with Jan Smith (displaced Mainer), one on Facilitating the Work of K-5 Composers and Robert Russell who talked about taking beyond notes to phrases.. Barb has been asked to do a work-shop on Long Island, NY in June and Michelle has convinced USM to sponsor a summer course on student compositions. Maine (and MMEA) is in the forefront in standards-based curriculum and assessments. If you have presented a successful clinic at our conference, why not go the stop further and apply to share it with our E.D. colleagues. There is no financial remuneration, but you might be asked to take it further and, of course, it’s good for the resume and, maybe, recertification credits.

If the term “General Music” turns you or your students off, try another name, such as “Comprehensive music.” But whatever the name, the non-performance music classes in middle and high school are gaining in popularity and quality.

The USM faculty and students had a table in the Exhibits and hosted a very nice reception late Friday afternoon. Well done!! I would hope that all Maine Music Ed students attend at least one Eastern Division Conference during their college careers.

And I also hope that they attend the MMEA conference at least their senior year.

It was inspiring to see so many younger music teachers at the conference. In hindsight I wish I had started attending the Eastern Division conferences earlier in my career. I didn’t know how valuable they are. Yes, the Maine In-service Conferences are great. We have excellent presenters – both national specialists and home-grown experts – but the exhibits, the clinics and the information sharing of E.D. are priceless.

Our All-Eastern students had a real education. Not only did they get to work under top-notch conductors and with the cream-of-the-crop students but they went to two fabulous concerts – Barrage, a high-octane fiddle group that takes violin playing to a new level, and the Empire Brass Quintet, noted for their virtuosity and diverse repertoire.


Faith Varney, State Director

Treasurer’s Report
Submitted by Mark Ranger

1099- Misc. Forms were sent out by 1-31-2007 to all we hired in 2006 at rates of $600 or more. Managers, please get full names, addresses, AND

Social Security numbers from any clinicians, conductors, accompanists, etc. that you hire throughout the year. I had to chase down A LOT of people to get this info. Some of the big names we have hired don't respond to phone calls and/or emails that say "I need your Social Security Number" (I don't blame them).

Balances as of 3-15-2007.

CD- $5000.00

Checking- $84,653.19

Savings- $13,850.63

Credit card- $0.00

Advocacy/Music In Our Schools Month Chair Report, March 2007

- On Thursday, January 25, 2007, I took part in MENC's first ever Online
Webinar, entitled “Growing Grassroots Networks”. This session was hosted by
John Wilson, Executive Director of the National Education Association; Mary
Luehrsen, Director of Public Affairs for NAMM; and Marcia Neel, coordinator of
Secondary Fine Arts in Las Vegas, Nevada

This webinar contained some VERY useful advocacy tools, as well as ways to
increase quantity and effectiveness of communications to adminstrators, other
teachers, parents, students, and the community. If anyone would like to see
some of the resources, please let me know and I will e-mail them to you. Some
of the items are in Powerpoint format and some are in PDF.

- On March 7th, my husband Adam took part in the Arts Education Advocacy Day at
the state house on behalf of MMEA. If anyone would like any of the materials
that Adam collected, please let me know. He also has information on visual
arts, dance, and other things if you would be interested for any of the
colleagues in your school/district.

- Regarding Music In Our Schools Month, don't forget to vote for your favorite
finalist in the Music In Our Schools Showcase. Keep in mind that the videos
are hosted on the YouTube website, and may be filtered out at some schools. It
is suggested if this is happening to you that you contact your district tech
coordinator/supervisor to grant you access (if even for one day to just do the
voting).

I think this covers everything... Happy Music In Our Schools Month, everybody!

Respectfully submitted,

Jess Newton
Advocacy/MIOSM Chair
Maine Music Educators Association

Tri-M Report

I participated in a webinar on March 6th for all state
Tri-M chairs. It was an interesting session and we
had an opportunity to ask questions in written form
which were then answered by members of the panel
verbally. Although it certainly is not as smooth as a
live meeting, it is a great way to connect with other
Tri-M people from around the nation. The focus of the
webinar was communication and we discussed strategies
to improve communication from MENC all the way to the
local chapter.

See you on the 25th.

Alice

District 1 Chair Report March 2007

Greetings from District 1!

Things have been rather busy in the past few months. Festival season is just now winding down, and we are all able to take a breath.

The District 1 High School Honors Festival was held January 26 and 27th at Gorham High School. Curvin Farnham (Band), Sandra Howard (Treble Choir),Chris Peterson (Mixed Choir), Anthony Marro (Jazz Band), and Louise Pajak (Orchestra) served as our guest conductors. I would like to thank Darryl Morrow, and Ray Mathieu for hosting us.

The 6th Grade Honors Festival for District 1 was held March 10th at South Portland High School. Charlene Farnham (Band) and Camille Curtis Saucier (Chorus) served as the guest conductors. Thanks you to Jean Quinn, Sandra Barry, and Abby Hutchins for their hard work hosting this year!

Next up for district 1 is the Spring meeting that will take place sometime in May.

Respectfully Submitted,
Shannon C. Waggoner
District 1 Chair
swaggoner@sad55.k12.me.us

----------------
District 2 Report
Nothing to report at this time.

Jim Horwich


-----------------
Maine Music Educators Association
District III
Report to the MMEA Exec Board
March 25, 2007

District III is currently in the middle of our festival season.

Since the last report, we held a very successful High School Honors
Festival hosted by Kim Murphy and Nancy Laite at Camden Hills High School
on January 26th and at the Orion Theatre in Topsham on the 27th. The
Concert Band, conducted by Doug Owens and managed by Peter Stewart
performed wonderfully! Wendy Northrup conducted the Honors Treble Choir
managed by Darren Avery and gave an outstanding performance. Kristopher
Johnson conducted the Honors Mixed Choir which was managed by Virgil
Bozeman, and performed extremely well. This very able group of music
educators made for a very memorable concert!

Heidi Anderson and Shari Tarleton hosted a very successful Jazz Group
adjudication festival on February 28. There were 15 groups who performed
in two separate rooms.

On March 3rd, our Sixth Grade Honors Festival had to be postponed until
March 17 due to a snow storm. Even though the sun came out Saturday, it
would have been very difficult for schools from the eastern part of
District III to get to Lisbon Community School. Jonathan Carsley is the
host and had an army of parent volunteers to help set up, and will do so
on the 17th. Michael Davis will conduct the Honors Band and Emily Flynn
will conduct the Honors Chorus.

Our Jazz Honors Festival is slated for March 30 and 31 at the new Cony
High School, hosted by Mike Scarponi. We are anticipating a fine festival.

The Junior High Honors Festival will be held April 27 and 28 at Camden
and will be hosted by Pat Webber and Alyssa Williamson at Camden Rockport
Middle School.

Winding down the year will be our annual Spring Meeting on May 7th, which
will be hosted by Heidi Anderson. The District III Music Educator of the
Year award will be presented along with the usual reports and business in
preparation for the next school year.


Respectfully submitted
Roger Whitney, chair

District IV
March 25th, 2007
Daniel Labonte

We have successfully completed out first district festival this, which occurred the first weekend in March. Our 2-day festival was turned into a one-day festival but still went very well. The students picked up the slack and did a great job with the wonderful directors. Waterville hosted us for that festival which made the entire thing very smoothly run.

Our last district festival is planned for April 4th in Farmington. This will be our fifth and sixth grade festival. It should be a nice festival and have around 300 students from the District IV schools participating.

The district IV jazz festival went very well. No problems except we had to reschedule due to snow also so we pushed the festival from February 14th to the 28th but everyone was able to make the festival anyway.

We have one more meeting to end the school year just to review any changes we have made in the past year.



District V

Hello Everyone -

District V is moving along smoothly into our last festival.
Our High School Festival was well performed and attended in Dexter.
Thank you to them for hosting, our two conductors Gina Provensano (Band) and Heather Macleod (Choir). At our meeting, Mandy Cushman brought up bringing in strings to that festival. She is hosting next year and will be heading taking care of bring strings to that festival. Due to snow we had to move our Instrumental Jazz Festival. Thank you to Hermon for hosting and being so flexible! Our Vocal Jazz Festival also went off without a hitch. Thank you to Nokomis for hosting as well.

At our January meeting, the district decided to postpone our large group festival. Dates and hosts were hard to find, hopefully we can bring it back next year. Also, we had some great discussions around changing the festival to an audition form. It was decided to keep the festival as is but really promote to the students what an honor it truely is to be nominated, accepted, and attend.

Our Elementary Honors Festival will be Saturday, April 28th, hosted by Milo. We are looking forward to a great day with 5th and 6th graders!

Our Spring Meeting will be held at Happy China Buffet on Monday, May7th, 5pm dinner and 6pm meeting.

Respectfully Submitted,
Sarah Clark
District V Chairperson
District V Report March 2007

District 6 Chair Report March 2007

Greetings from District 6!

We have had a very eventful few months in District 6. Our district jazz festival at MDI High School had to be cancelled due to snow. Complications arose as to what would become of the application fees paid by participating schools. Ultimately it was resolved that since these fees had been used to pay the adjudicators (as stipulated by their contract), the fees would not be refunded. While we were disappointed that our schools could not enjoy this great day of music, it was wonderful that so many of them were able to participate in their respective state festivals. Thank you to Dan Granholm and the MDI Music Boosters for all of your efforts in planning what surely would have been a wonderful event.

We were able to find a new host for the High School Honors Festival. Alice Sullivan has done a remarkable job preparing to host the festival at Woodland Jr/Sr High School on March 30th. We are honored to have guest conductors Gina Provenzano and Arnold Poland coming to work with our students.

We have also undertaken the task of revising our very outdated district handbook. Beyond making alterations to reflect the changes to the state handbook, we are also revising policies and procedures for our festivals to reflect issues that have come up this year and in previous years. It is our intent to have a draft of the revised handbook ready for members to vote on at our spring meeting.

Finally, we will be moving our spring meeting from March 30 to April 26 at the Red Barn in Milbridge so that more members will be able to attend.

Respectfully Submitted,
Jessica Hartman, D6 Chairperson

District 7 Report

Our All-Aroostook Festival back in January went very well in Fort Fairfield. Next year it will be held in Presque Isle. Band Committee is looking into changing the audition music and requirements. A decision will be made at our Spring Meeting

Over the past few weeks our district jazz festivals were very successful and all groups look forward to the up coming state festivals.

Just last Tuesday, Caribou brought Wycliffe Gordon, a world class trombone player, to work with all of their jazz ensembles and he performed with each group at a concert. Wycliffe performs with the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis and with Wynton’s jazz combo. I went to the concert and it was very good Very good doesn’t describe the level of player that he was, but I can’t spell any of the other adjectives

We are in need of a President and President Elect for the next 2 years, but no one has come forward. Hopefully we can get these 2 positions filled at our Spring Meeting.

Coming up in April, Fort Fairfield HS will host our District Large Group Festival.

Also in April, we will have our spring meeting at Presque Isle High School

Pat Bragdon

MMEA Collegiate MENC Chapter Report

March, 2007

Both UMaine and USM Collegiate MENC Chapter members attended the Eastern MENC Conference in Hartford, CT. Plans are now being made for attendance at the 2008 National Conference in Milwaukee, WI.

The new officers of USM Collegiate MENC are:

President: Tammy Dillon
Vice President: Danielle Ripa
Secretary: Nathaniel Menifield
Treasurer: Erica Rice


Respectfully Submitted,

Douglas T. Owens, Collegiate Chair

_____________________________
Douglas T. Owens, D.A.
Assistant Professor, Music Education
Coordinator of Music Education Student Teaching
University of Southern Maine
37 College Avenue
Gorham, ME 04038
(207) 780-5260 (office)
(207) 780-5527 (fax)
dowens@usm.maine.edu
http://www.usm.maine.edu/music/faculty/owensd.htm

General Music K-5 Report

Hello all,

My report as of now is that things are shaping up for the All-State Conference and I hope that ALL General Music people attend. It is so very important that all of us encourage all of our general music teachers to attend this conference. Lots of great clinicians for the conference are lined up and for those attending the General Music Luncheon, Monica Cantor-Churchill (Falmouth) will bring her Grade 4 select chorus to perform.

All Eastern in Hartford was a fantastic time! I attended many outstanding workshops and only wish more people could have the opportunity to attend a Division Conference such as this. While there I made some great connections with clinicians and I'm sure you'll get to meet some of these people at All-State 2008.

Michael and Jill Galina are asking teachers for input into their newest publication. The new resource is tentatively titled “101 Great Ideas for Music Teachers K to 8 ” Subtitled: “From Motivational to Inspirational”. They are seeking strategies, stories and methods for the following areas:
- Tips on teaching skills.
- Classroom management ideas [behavior, grading, assessment, etc.]
- Motivational techniques
- Parent relations and the home school connection
- Maintaining a positive relationship with administrators
- Fund raising and budgeting
- Inspirational accounts of successful undertakings
- Rehearsal and performance preparation techniques
- Integrating music into the total curriculum
- Cooperative endeavors with classroom teachers
- Planning for the substitute teacher
- Writing lesson objectives based upon National Standards
Anyone who wishes to send in a submission please send your information to JandMSongs@aol.com

I will be meeting with Argy Nestor and other members of the committee, Wednesday March 21st, to create an "Arts Workshop". I will have more information to share with the MMEA Board next Sunday at our meeting. I had hoped that our fall workshop clinicians, Peter and Mary Alice Amidon, would be able to change their date and be able to present at this new conference. However, they are unable to change their date. It appears at this time the general music workshop will stay on Friday Oct 5th, 2007 in Augusta and that we'll get different clinicians for the fall mini-workshops at the Samoset on October 29,29. I'm very interested in meeting with the committee on Wednesday. More on this topic coming soon!

As promised I am sharing another great website for general music teachers to log on to and use in their classrooms. Below is the web address for the New York Philharmonic Kidzone! This is a very user friendly website that kids will enjoy exploring. Make it more fun by creating a scavenger hunt that will encourage them to look things up. Enjoy!!

http://www.nyphilkids.org/main.phtml

I also encourage ALL teachers at ALL levels to be aware of opportunities that are out there to support what we do in the school. Here in Maine there are so many opportunities to support classroom projects; school wide initiatives and professional development. Start by checking the Maine Arts Alliance For Education web page, http://www.maineallforartsed.org/ or the Maine Arts Commission website, http://mainearts.maine.gov/

In the Spirit of Making Music with Children,
Respectfully Submitted,

Michael Davis
Sherwood Heights Music K-6
Maine Music Educators Assn, General Music VP
www.auburnschl.edu/Users/mdavis
www.mainemmea.org

General Music 6 – 12

We have four great sessions scheduled for our in-service conference. Scott Fuller will address capitalizing on your students' knowledge and musical interests in HS general music settings. Alan Kaschub will present a series of projects that use Garageband to enhance musical skill development in HS theory courses (or other courses). Bethany Kirkpatrick, Erica Troy, and David Miller will present a session featuring composition projects that work in middle school choral, general, and instrumental settings (yes, they taught and survived every project and their students loved it!), and I will present a workshop on enhancing music listening experiences for ms/hs students in exploratory, appreciation or ensemble based settings.

We'd love to have a big turn out so that we can begin to generate some communication about the wonderful things that so many of our colleagues do with middle and high school general music courses.



Michele Kaschub, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Music
Coordinator of Music Education & Graduate Studies
University of Southern Maine
School of Music
37 College Avenue
Gorham, Maine 04038
207.780.5587

ORCHESTRA VP REPORT
March 17, 2007
Margaret Hopkins

All State orchestra music has been sent out to all except percussion, which should be sent this coming week. There is a need for some ringers for orchestra to fill out sections, but nothing too significant (horn, piano, bass clarinet, English horn, percussion). These needs are resulting either from lack of auditions (horn), or because the parts are too small to justify selecting a student who would be doing nothing else for most of the rehearsals. Harp auditions are tentatively scheduled for Saturday, March 31 at Bates College.

Maine Suzuki Association is making plans for next year’s workshop towards the end of October. Clinicians for Suzuki violin, viola, cello, piano and guitar are being contacted as well as a teacher training clinician.

Maine chapter of the American String Teachers Association has cancelled their annual statewide string festival due to unforeseeable scheduling and organizational conflicts beyond the Maine ASTA Board’s control. This year the event was to be hosted in Orono/Bangor area. Please contact Margaret Hopkins or other Maine ASTA Board members with any questions or comments.

Margaret attended the ASTA National Conference last week in Detroit. Midori (violin) performed with the Detroit Youth Civic Orchestra and Lynn Harrell (cello) performed with the Detroit Symphony. Both were outstanding performances. Most impressive were concerts by the student high school orchestras and the soloist competitions.



Margaret

State Editor Report - March 2007

The February issue went to press in March. The issue focuses mainly on the conference clinicians, but will be out in enough time for people to get a good overview of the conference. I seem to have a difficult time making the issues happen as promised! I have extended a plea for help, however, and have had a response. Scot Fuller has finally agreed to begin learning the State Editor job. We will work together through the Handbook issue in order to make a smooth transition for Scot. Thank you, you brave soul! Jon Carsley will be picking up the advertiser/invoicing portion of the Bulletin. This makes a good natural transition and connection between the exhibitors at All State and the quarterly publication.

Jon Carsley and I are looking at the pricing structure for the advertisers for the upcoming contract year. I have contacted Mark Ranger for an Income/Expense report.

As always, comments and suggestions for the Bulletin are welcomed. I hope that the change to the color cover as well as my choice for images - (love those cool graphics!) has been appropriate. The job is a huge one for one person! In fairness, however, I do have help from my 15 year old, Michael, when it comes to labeling. I also have invaluable help from Nancy Cash-Cobb in getting the mailing out. Thanks Mike and Nancy! Also, Quality Copy in Hallowell treats me like family. They deliver the magazines to whatever school I'm in, or to my home as requested. They will even bring a proof to me at work for me to sign off on. Talk about service!

The Spring issue will focus on Summer Camps and opportunities. I have already had a commitment for two articles for you to digest over the summer. Please continue to send ALL summer and continuing education information to me for the publication as well as the website.


Webmaster Report - March 2007

The site continues to be utilized daily. We are averaging about 75 page views per day. Last week there were a total of 528 page views. (And mine don't count!)
About 58 of those visitors are unique - meaning that they don't log on on a regular basis.
We averaged about 39 NEW visitors per day.
We averaged about 19 returning visitors per day.

I am assuming that the Festivals increased our number of hits per day. That especially applies to our NEW visitors.

I have not been able to update every day due to being blocked at school. I used to be able to update during my lunch 20 minutes, but I can now only access at home. This has slowed the posting time down significantly. I also don't answer my phone early in the morning on Saturdays!! (But now my son knows how to edit the site, so HE can take the call and fix the site!)

District Chairs - PLEASE be sure that your website is up to date! If you host your site on the MMEA site, please email me info to post. If you host it yourself, please make sure that there are no out of date links. There is nothing more unprofessional than dead links (tell me if the MMEA site has any!) and out of date info!

I sort through about 60 legitimate emails a day JUST FOR MMEA. If you need something posted NOW, please mark it URGENT or put such a thing in the subject area. I will often just browse the subjects and put off what doesn't look urgent until the morning or even a day or two. If it says merely, MMEA I will often just put it off. Thanks to Chris Humphrey for making sure that I know what needs to happen. Chris is EXCELLENT at letting me know what needs posting. Makes my job easier!

Keep letting me know what needs updating. I don't look at most of the posted pages. If you come across something that is out of date, needs to be removed or has a bad link please let me know. Sam and Faith are great at doing this! I need help with the details!

Respectfully submitted,
Barbara Packales


-------------------------------------
Mrs. Barbara Balch Packales
State Editor and Webmaster
Maine Music Educators Association
38 Smithtown RD
Pittston, ME 04345
(207) 458-0552
www.mainemmea.org
editor@mainemmea.org
bbpackales@aol.com

Music Teacher Education Report
March 22, 2007

Re. the area of Music Teacher Education, it was suggested that these four questions be discussed at the January meeting:

1. What were the strongest components of your music teacher education prior to taking your first job? This could be your own experiences in grades K-12, experiences outside the classroom, and/or your college training.

2. If you were designing a college music ed curriculum, what would you strengthen, change, delete and/or add, and why?

3. How did MMEA assist you in your first years of teaching?

4. What would you like to see strengthened, changed, deleted or added to MMEA to give more service to our first and second year teachers?

Since we ran out of time at the January meeting and were not able to discuss these questions together, they were sent to MMEA Board members via e-mail for feedback. I received approximately twenty responses, all very informative and thoughtfully written. Some board members passed the survey on to other MMEA members who also responded, and that is appreciated. The two themes that were constant in the responses were:

A. Respondents wish that they had had more "hands on" time in the classroom before graduating and moving in to their first teaching position.

B. Music educators in our state would benefit from a more thorough mentor system.

These issues can be discussed further in future MMEA Board meetings. Thanks to everyone who responded.

Respectfully submitted,

Laura Artesani




Government Relations Report

Below is a combined copy of the MENC Legislative Memo for January and February 2007. I have included the information from other states as it will be of interest to some readers. There has been a lot going on in the last two month so I apologize for such a big report!

If anyone has some specific Maine news that I don't catch, please send it to me directly to include in the report. In addition, I can then report that to MENC directly for inclusion in a future MENC Legislative Memo.

These combined memo topics include:

Federal News

* The New Congress Opens
* President Bush's Budget for 2008 Released

No Child Left Behind

* MENC Update
* MENC Leaders Storm Capitol Hill
* Senate Holds Series of NCLB Roundtables

You Should Know

* ...about MENC's music advocacy webinar series
* MENC Governance
* ...about MENC's podcast--Notes from the Clef!

Take Action

* Email Your Legislators about No Child Left Behind!
* Support the National Anthem Project Curriculum Kit!

State News

* Ohio Succeeds in Adding Fine Arts Requirements

Congressional Corner

* Representative Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D-OH)
* Representative Jay Inslee (D-WA)


Federal News

The New Congress Opens

On January 4, 2007, the 110th Congress officially opened with both legislative bodies under Democratic control and the first female Speaker of the House. Although Senator Tim Johnson (SD) is recovering from a brain operation and is unable to vote, precedent dictates that the Democrats retain the majority in the Senate.

After the November elections, the House Democrats promised to pass a significant number of important bills within the first 100 legislative hours. During those first 100 hours, the House passed measures on ethics reform, the September 11 Commission, the minimum wage, stem cell research, prescription drug reform, energy policy, and student loan rates.

By a vote of 356 to 71, the House cut interest rates on college student loans that could potentially save students up to $2,300 in coming years. This has yet to pass the Senate, but a similar measure by Senator Ted Kennedy has also been introduced and is expected to be taken up in February.

Related articles:
# Pelosi becomes first woman House speaker
# House wraps up '100-hour' legislative marathon
# House votes to reduce rates on student loans

President Bush's Budget for 2008 Released

On February 5, President Bush released his recommended budget for the 2008 fiscal year (FY08). The $2.9 trillion budget includes $56 billion for the Department of Education (ED) and $128.4 million for the National Endowment for the Arts. President Bush did not request any increase in education funding this year.

One program President Bush recommended for elimination from the Department of Education is the Arts in Education grant program. This program has been recommended for elimination by President Bush every year, but has been funded by the Senate. Many of you have likely been a part of the successful grassroots campaigning to fund this important program.

The President's $128.4 million budget request for The National Endowment for the Arts is actually a $4 million increase over last year's funding. The request includes $102.9 million for grants, of which $61.7 million for direct grants and $41.1 million for state and regional partnerships.

Related resources:
# Department of Education Programs Proposed for Elimination (including Arts in Education Grants)
# FY 2008 U.S. Department of Education Budget Summary
# NEA Budget

No Child Left Behind

MENC Update

As the authorizing bill for elementary and secondary education, No Child Left Behind (NCLB) has been the center of incredible amounts of study and debate--especially as reauthorization nears. Recently, the importance of the arts in keeping America at the forefront of the global economy was the topic of a report and a debate, giving further ammunition for advocates as NCLB is reauthorized.

The report was issued by The New Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce, a nonpartisan group of educators and business experts. Tough Choices or Tough Times proposes what it will take to keep America competitive in the global economy. It argues that the current educational system was built for a different time when today's global economy could not have been imagined and so it calls for drastic changes in current educational policy and practice. It further argues that in our global economy there should be more of a focus on training employees for "creative work" which is of much higher value in today's economy. The Commission recognized that a full education in the arts is integral to training "creative" employees.

Beyond the Basics: Why Reading, Math, and Science Aren't Sufficient for a 21st Century Education was the debate presented by The Thomas B. Fordham Institute which made a similar argument. Those on the panel argued that the arts, along with several other subject areas, have been neglected as a result of NCLB and therefore students are not adequately prepared for competing in the global economy. Several solutions discussed included increasing instructional time and testing more subject areas.

Additional information:
# Read the executive summary of Tough Choices or Tough Times
# How to Bring Our Schools Out of the 20th Century
# Read speaker summaries from "Beyond the Basics: Why Reading, Math, and Science Aren't Sufficient for a 21st Century Education"

MENC Leaders Storm Capitol Hill

At the end of February, MENC leaders stormed Capitol Hill for a series of visits with their Representatives and Senators. After training sessions with MENC, the leaders went to the Hill to discuss the upcoming reauthorization of No Child Left Behind, The National Anthem Project, and federal funding for arts education grants and research. The first group was the North Central Division Executive Board which includes presidents, president-elects, and managers from across the Midwest. One such meeting occurred with Senator Chuck Hagel from Nebraska as pictured to the right. (Left to right: Nebraska President Lance Nielsen, North Central Division President Joyce Patch, Senator Chuck Hagel, Nebraska President-elect Rex Barker, and North Central Division President-elect Glenn Nierman.)

The second group visiting Capitol Hill was MENC's National Executive Board (NEB). The picture to the left was from a meeting that Western Division President Barbara McLain and Eastern Division President Earl Groner had with Senator Daniel Akaka of Hawaii (shown center).

Watch for a special edition of the MENC Legislative Memo coming soon with full details and pictures!




Senate Holds Series of NCLB Roundtables

Senator Ted Kennedy, as Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) has begun holding a series of roundtables on the reauthorization of No Child Left Behind. The first roundtable was held on February 8 and discussed strategies for school improvement. The second roundtable was held March 6 on teacher recruitment and retention. Future roundtables will be held on high school dropout prevention strategies, accountability and AYP, assessment, supplemental services and school choice, students with disabilities and NCLB, and English Language Learners and NCLB. A group of ten Senators joined together to urge the HELP Committee to evaluate additional problem areas including the narrowing of curriculum seen by music teachers.

Additional Resources:
# Arts Education: Creating Student Success In School, Work, and Life--This important collaboration by the music education community describes four areas in which changes must be made in NCLB reauthorization (achievement, equity, teacher recruitment and retention, and data collection).
# President Bush Discusses No Child Left Behind Reauthorization (March 2, 2007)
# White House – NCLB Blueprint
# Building on Results: A Blueprint for Strengthening the No Child Left Behind Act -- U.S. Department of Education


You Should Know…

…about MENC's music advocacy webinar series!

MENC is announcing a series of music education advocacy Webinars! "Webinars" are web-based seminars whose audience participation requires only a computer and a telephone. This allows broad dissemination of information to a group of interested participants across the country. The first webinar in the series, "Growing Grassroots Networks" will discuss the importance, creation, and maintenance of a grassroots network. It is scheduled for Thursday, January 25, 2007, from 8:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. EST. If are interested in participating and have not already registered, please e-mail MENC as soon as possible.


MENC Governance

As leaders and active MENC participants, make your voice heard! A task force appointed by MENC President Lynn Brinckmeyer is reviewing MENC's governance structure. Please give us your input! (You will need your member ID number to log in.)

…about MENC's podcast -- Notes from the Clef!

MENC's podcast series, Notes from the Clef, features an interview with National Association of Secondary School Principals Executive Director Gerald Tirozzi and a look at MENC's government relations activities with Director of Government Relations Anne Ruach Nicolas this month. Both discuss No Child Left Behind Reauthorization and the role of music education.

Notes from the Clef began with the goal of providing an informative, entertaining new resource for the nation's music educators. The series features interviews with MENC members, MENC leaders, professional musicians, and individuals representing MENC's many partners in the world of music education and music advocacy. You can subscribe to receive the podcast by visiting the web site.

Take Action

E-mail your legislators about No Child Left Behind!

Act now to send your thoughts on the reauthorization of No Child Left Behind using SupportMusic.com's Capwiz tool! The SupportMusic.com Coalition is brought to you by MENC and NAMM and boasts over 100 member organizations all joined together to advance music education.

Support The National Anthem Project Curriculum Kit!

Show your support for the creation and distribution of a National Anthem Project Curriculum Kit! Act now to urge your Members of Congress to make this a reality! Deadline: March 15

• Open the following letter using Word.
• Visit www.congress.org and enter your zip code to find your Representative.
• Enter your Representative's name into the letter as well as your address.
• E-mail your letter or print it out and fax it to MENC at 703-860-9404 so that we can deliver it directly to your Representative (mail delivery remains slow to Capitol Hill as a result of security screening procedures).
• Feel free to forward the link or to print out several copies of the letter. Urge friends and co-workers to sign their own letters!

Together we can make this education kit a reality!

State News

Ohio succeeds in adding fine arts credits

After a successful Arts Advocacy Day earlier in the year, the Ohio Alliance for Arts Education (OAAE), in conjunction with the Ohio Music Education Association (OMEA), led educators, businesses, parent groups, and other Ohio professional arts organizations to an outstanding advocacy success. Sub. SB 311 passed the Ohio House on December 19, 2006 and the Ohio Senate on December 20, 2006 and mandates a fine arts credit for high school graduation. As you may remember from the July 2006 MENC Legislative Memo, arts advocates met with their legislators urging them to pass this important piece of legislation. Ohio becomes the 30th state to require the fine arts for high school graduation.

Specifically, Sub. SB 311 adds overall new requirements for graduation and for the first time includes a fine arts requirement. Additionally, the bill allows up to five fine arts credits to be used towards graduation, out of the twenty needed, ensuring students will not be penalized for taking sequential music and arts classes. These new regulations will take effect for those entering the ninth grade after July 1, 2010.

Congratulations Ohio advocates!

Congressional Corner

Representative Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D-OH)

Representative Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D-OH) was the first African-American woman elected to the United States House of Representatives from Ohio. She is currently serving her fourth term as the 11th District Representative, which encompasses much of Cleveland and parts of of 22 suburbs. The Congresswoman, a strong advocate for many issues, has championed wealth building and economic development, access and delivery of health care, and high quality education for all.

The Congresswoman's musical background includes being a choir member in her school music program. She regularly listens to music and attends music performances. Rep. Tubbs Jones' musical background has helped her serve on the Congressional Arts Caucus and receive an "A" on the 2006 Congressional Arts Report Card.

Representative Jones submitted a statement to the Congressional Record on April 4, 2006, supporting music education in schools. In her statement, Rep. Tubbs Jones says, "Skills learned through studying music translate to skills that help students succeed in life."

Representative Jay Inslee (D-WA)

Representative Jay Inslee (D-WA) has been Washington's First District Representative since 1999. The First District includes the northeast suburbs of Seattle as well as the areas across Puget Sound. It is also the home of Microsoft. Rep. Inslee is a strong environmentalist and sits on the House Committee on Energy and Commerce as well as the Committee on Natural Resources.

Rep. Inslee is a music supporter and loves playing the harmonica as well as singing. He enjoys African imbira music, bluegrass, the Beach Boys, and "anything his son Joe whistles." He has become friends with Carole King and has cut a CD singing his composition, "Carole King Rocky Mountains" as a tribute to her work to create wilderness in Idaho. From a legislative standpoint, Rep. Inslee supports music and the arts as a member of the Congressional Arts Caucus.

During March 1 visits to Capitol Hill, members of MENC's National Executive Board (NEB) visited with Rep. Inslee's staff to talk about No Child Left Behind, The National Anthem Project, and Arts Education Appropriations. (Pictured left to right, NEB observer Dave Weatherred, Inslee staffer Beth Osbourne, and NEB member Jim Rice.)

Respectfully Submitted,

Scot

--
E. Scot Fuller
Performing Arts Department
Gould Academy
Bethel, Maine 04217




All State BOC Festival Chairperson Report
3/18/07

As I sit down to write this, I can’t believe we are only two months away from another All State! There is much that has been done and a fair amount left to do, but I’m confident it will all come together as it usually does…due in no small part to the people other than me who do a great deal of the work. I have several suggestions for operational changes to implement for next year to make this run a bit smoother. Some of these we will need to discuss before enacting.

1) All festival participants MUST register on-line. As I have spent almost 6 hours typing in necessary info to the database, and am only halfway through the pile of forms, it occurs to me that I really didn’t sign on to spend my time as a typist, especially during the busiest time of the year. Also, I cannot be held responsible for errata, penmanship being the lost art that it is. I will be working with Larry (to whom I owe a great deal) to tweak the on-line process to see if we can make it easier to understand and use. Larry and I will likely conduct a workshop, if time allows, during All State to explain and demonstrate what we have now and take ideas for the future.
2) As part of the above, Larry will likely develop an on-line invoice, similar to the one from auditions, that will make the payment process easier for all schools.
3) This one is tricky and I would appreciate your input. Payment. I would like to see us head in the direction of school checks or booster groups only, no personal checks (or cash) allowed. The big hang up with this would be home schooled students and schools that have the students pay the deposit. A separate issue is that many schools would rather pay the entire amount up front so they do not have to deal with two P.O’s. That is easy to accomplish by letting schools know that they have that option from the outset. I welcome your ideas.
4) After being VERY accommodating to our people this year because of the on-line registration piloting, I’m going to warn everyone early and often for next year…the deadlines, whatever they may be, will be adhered to. I am still a few forms short and I have two schools that I have seen no money from but I know they are coming. This is the real nightmare part of the job, since it requires time spent emailing and calling and emailing again.

I spent Friday talking with our concert host, Rick Nickerson, and I’m feeling much more comfortable. Tickets will be available on-line (at no cost to us) for a nominal ($1-2) fee. We need to decide if we want general seating or reserved seating. Rick has a company that he uses to print tickets, total of around $200. If USM does not want to do the program, Nancy Cash Cobb has volunteered to take that on. Who normally does the t-shirts? The Windham music boosters have volunteered to do that pending an answer to the previous sentence. There are a few (very few) equipment needs that I will request through my big letter to all directors later this week. Thanks Windham!

I’m still waiting on Gorham as to the final decision on having the chorus rehearse in their auditorium. Ray had several of his queries pending answers as of late last week, and I know he was out on Friday.

That is all I have at the moment…I’m sure it will change before lunch.

Ted Nokes

-------------------
March 2007 Jazz Activities Report

The State HS and MS instrumental jazz festivals are now complete, and we look forward to the Jazz and Show Choir festival on March 31st. Congratulations to students musicians and directors for continuing to keep jazz education alive in our schools!

Over the course of the first 2 weekends of state festivals, we had over 100 groups perform America's most important indigenous musical art form: jazz. Even though a snow storm threatened the HS festival, many groups had already traveled to Millinocket, and we held the festival with 20 bands instead of 30 on Saturday.

Thank you to our great panel of adjudicators for making this an education festival first and foremost! And thanks to Shianne Wheeler, instrumental jazz chair for hiring a great group of judges.

Both the HS and MS festivals were hosted by outstanding parents and teachers from Millinocket and Westbrook. The MMEA is thankful to the administrations of both school districts for allowing and even encouraging such an undertaking in their facilities.

A personal note: the most satisfying moments thus far of my new role here as Jazz VP for MMEA were this past weekend at the MS festival. Watching 12 and 13 year-old kids walk up to accept "outstanding individual musicianship" awards in front of hundreds of their peers, was truly a joy. To see their innocent pride in recognition of a job well done is worth it all. Their parents, and teachers should be proud!

Respectfully submitted,
Chris Humphrey
Vice President for Jazz Activities, MMEA
-------------------
March 25, 2007 MMEA Business Manager/All-State Exhibit Chair Report:

There have been lots of positive changes instituted this year in regards to the exhibit portion of our conference. This year exhibits will be housed in the mathematics wing on the first floor in Bailey Hall. Bailey Hall is the building in which 90% of the workshop sessions are being held, so teachers will have an easier to connecting with the businesses they want to visit. By utilizing large classrooms and lobby space, we are able to offer added security for merchandise to business patrons who need this service and un-secure spaces for business or organizations that do not.

We are now pleased to provide exhibitors with curb side assistance to help with unloading as well as complimentary breakfast refreshments and lunch for both days of the conference. Exhibit space will includes rented amount of 6ft tables, table clothes, chairs, name badges for all business/organization associates, and power outlets for those that requested them.

Having worked with exhibitors for the past few years, I have heard lots of comments and concerns about the lack of customer traffic in the exhibit areas. The other conference managers and I have brain stormed ways to get more students/educators to visit the exhibits. Some of the solutions we come up with include the purchase professional quality signage to direct participants to the workshops and exhibit area(s), prize drawing for free merchandise and music for both teachers and students, and exclusive exhibit time built into the conference schedule, so teachers don’t have to miss a session or rush through lunch to get to the exhibits.

We are also pleased to announce the inclusion exclusive exhibit time for students in the schedule of events. Thursday evening at 7 p.m. in the exhibit area MMEA will be sponsoring an Ice Cream Social for all students participating in the festival. Students will get a chance to talk with college representatives, try out new instrument models, look through music, purchase that much needed accessory and of course eat ice cream and socialize. To kick this event up another notch for the students, businesses have donated lots of cool items for our prize drawing.

In researching what other state associations are offering exhibitors, I also realized that we were grossly undercharging for exhibit space. Many state associations on the East coast rent space no more glamorous than ours from $350-500. I felt that it was necessary to increase the cost per table from $100 per table to $200. This will also allow us to absorb some of the above additional expenses more easily. However, a $100 increase can not be made in one years time will out the association’s promise to bring more business both teacher and student to the exhibit area. I feel with the implemented improvements that we will make our exhibitors look forward to returning to our conference for years to come.

Multiple letters and emails have been sent out to exhibitors informing them of all the above changes and I have received many positive commits commending us on ingenuity, especially in establish an exhibit time for students. I am so pleased to also announce that Starbird Music Company of Portland will be attending our conference for the first time in several years. I’ve also been actively recruiting new advertisers and exhibitors for the Bulletin at both the TMEA conference in February and the MENC/CMEA Eastern Division Conference in Hartford, CT. Barbara’s fine work in establishing the MMEA Bulletin as one of the most professionally designed state journals in the country has made that job a whole lot easier. Thank you Barbara for your incredible contribution to our organization among many others!

It is crucial that the businesses and organization that support us yearly through advertising in “The MMEA Bulletin,” donating goods and services to our association, or purchasing exhibit space at our All-State conference realize that the members of the MMEA Executive Board recognize that their commitment to helping improve the quality of music education in our schools. We need to put our best effort forward in showing them that an investment have ever large or small in assisting the Maine Music Educators Association is a profitable investment on some many levels.

Sincerely yours,

Jonathan J. Carsley

MMEA Business Manager

Check your deadline dates!