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Maine Music Educators Association
District III
Report to the MMEA Exec Board
May 17, 2006
District III has finished our busy festival season, and we are looking forward to All-State and the end of the school year.
Our Jazz Honors Festival, moved from March 17th and 18th to March 31st and April 1st due to the change in the State Jazz
date was a great success, thanks to Beth Preston hosting. Our two bands directed by Craig Skeffington and Tom Lizotte sounded
great and the jazz chorus directed by Michelle Snow was super.
The Junior High Honors Festival hosted by Margery Landis and Barbara Larson was held April 7th and 8th at Mt. Ararat Middle
School. The honors band and chorus performed in Orion Theatre to a packed house and a very enthusiastic audience. The band,
conducted by Kim Mathieu and the chorus conducted by Rick Dustin, were superb.
Winding down the year, our annual Spring Meeting on May 8th, was very ably hosted by Heidi Anderson and Shari Tarleton.
The District III Music Educator of the Year award was presented, however because of an important budget meeting, the recipient
of this year’s award could not attend. We will award it at their spring concert later this month and will be publicly
announced. The usual business of the district was conducted in preparation for the next school year. Glenn Sargent was
the guest speaker and gave us a very informative talk about the problems that we as music educators and the music industry
have encountered concerning inferior instruments from non-tradiditonal sources. Following Glenn’s presentation a committee
was formed, with Kim Murphy as chair, to begin the process of District III commissioning a choral work. Changes to the Elementary
Festival were discussed.
District III ended the school year in great financial shape and next years’ calendar is all set to go.
Respectfully submitted
Roger Whitney, chair
83 Federal Street, Wiscasset, Maine, 04578
207-586-5803 (Home) 207-882-7767 (School)
E-Mail: rwhitney@wiscasset.k12.me.us
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District V Report
May 17,2006 ~ Orono, ME
District Five has had a very busy end to this year.
In March we had our Vocal and Large group festivals
which were well attended. At the end of April we had
our second annual Elementary Honors Festival. The
band and chorus were filled with roughly 100 students
each!! They put on an outstanding performance that
evening.
On May 8th at Happy China Buffet we had our annual
Spring Meeting. This meeting was well attended and we
were able to settle on many dates for the coming year.
Fall Meeting – 5pm Dinner/6pm Meeting – Happy China
Buffet - September 18, 2006
Middle School Honors Festival - Friday, November 3,
2006
High School Honors Festival - Friday and Saturday
January 26 and 27, 2007
Instrumental Jazz Festival - Thursday February 15,
2007
Vocal Jazz Festival - Wednesday February 28, 2007
Large Group (District V) - March 16, 2007 (If no state
conflicts)
Elementary Honors Festival – Date TBA
Spring Meeting – 5pm Dinner/6pm Meeting – Happy China
Buffet - May 7, 2006
We are still looking for a member to become
Chair-Elect and Terry Henry, our long time secretary,
has mentioned that after 10 years he would like to
step down and this position is still open.
At the Elementary Honors Festival in April, I spoke
with Keri Whitney, the music teacher in Milford and
she asked about the process to switch from District VI
to District V. Her position on this is once her
students leave her K-8 school, they go to District V
High Schools (Old Town, John Bapst, Orono etc.).
Another reason is distance to events that her students
would be participating in. District V has voted and
would accept Milford into their district. I am
waiting for an email to contact Ms. Whitney to let her
know she needs to write a letter to District VI to get
approval to leave (if this is the correct process) and
I would like to know the boards feelings on this
issue.
That's all from District V.
Respectfully Submitted,
Sarah Clark
District V Chair Person
Glenburn, ME 04401
947-8769 ext. 345
clarks@glenburn.net
aerome1981@yahoo.com
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District IV Report
Dan Labonte
5/16/06
Everything went very successful this year in District IV. The three festivals went very smoothly with some wonderful conductors.
The students had been well prepared for each festival by their teachers and they did a great job singing and playing their
instruments. At our final meeting this year we decided to drop the cost of our district jazz festival from $75 to $50. We
also decided to drop the admission fee to the district concerts completely. This way the only fee to participate is the initial
fee to cover the costs of music and composers.
I will be continuing as president of District IV for next year. My plans for the summer include putting together the webpage
for district IV.
The dates for festivals and meetings this coming year are the following
Fall Meeting: Sept 25 Lawrence hosts. Pizza at 6:00, Meeting 6:30.
Jazz Festival: Wed., Feb. 14 @ Skowhegan
Junior Festival: March 2 and 3 @ Waterville Junior High
Elementary Festival: April 4 @ Mt. Blue High School
Spring Meeting: April 23 @ Lawrence. Pizza @ 6:00, Meeting 6:30.
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Business Managers Report for May 2006
Exhibitors for the conference are as follows: Music & Arts Center
Northern Kingdom
Northeast Percussion
Perkins Music
Band Services LLC
GIA Publications
Alfed Publishing
Pearson Scott Foresman MENC Resource Booth
Soundtree
Stanbury Uniforms
Schoodic Mountain Sliver Co. Great American Opportunities
Schwans Fundraising Division
Univ of Southern Maine, School of Music
Univ of Maine Orono, School of Music
Below is the letter that I sent out to exhibitors welcoming them to our
conference. See you all at the conference.
-Jonathan MMEA IN-SERVICE CONFERENCE
Dear Exhibitor: May 2, 2006
Welcome to the Maine Music Educators 2006 Conference. As you know this
years? conference is in Orono on the campus of the University of Maine.
All exhibits will be housed in the Memorial Union building.
Exhibits open at 8:30 a.m. and run until 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, May 18.
On Friday exhibit hours will remain the same as other years, running
from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Set up time on Thursday will begin at 7:00
a.m. Please note that donuts, Danishes and coffee will be provided in
appreciation for your participation in our conference. All exhibit
tables should be set up on Thursday morning by 8:15 am and broken down
by 5 pm on Friday. The building security will arrive at 4 pm on
Thursday and continue until the building is locked down for the night.
I have attached an electronic map of the various MMEA Conference
activity venues including the Memorial Union. There will be sign boards
at all entrances to campus directing participants for the MMEA
Conference to the Memorial Union. Follow the signs for MMEA
registration to the unloading area. Driving directions to the
University campus are as follows for those of you who are familiar with
the UMO campus:
From the South Exit 191 (Formerly Exit 50):
Coming from the south on I-95, take Kelley Road Exit #191 (formerly
exit #50). Turn right at end of exit ramp. Drive 1 mile to the red
flashing light. Take left onto Route 2. Drive 2.5 miles to the third
set of traffic lights. Turn left onto College Avenue. Turn right at the
University of Maine sign.
From the South Exit 193 (Formerly Exit 51):
Coming from the south on I-95, take Stillwater Ave Exit #193 (formerly
exit #51)
Turn towards Burger King and the shopping center. Turn right at the
fourth traffic light by McDonald's and KFC on College Avenue. Take the
third left onto Munson Road at the first University of Maine sign.
From the North Exit 193 (Formerly Exit 51):
Coming from the north on I-95, take Stillwater Ave Exit #193 (formerly
exit #51) Turn left at the end of the exit ramp. Drive 1 mile to the
fourth set of traffic lights. ?Turn right onto College Avenue. Take the
third left onto Munson Road at the first University of Maine sign.
I will be on-site setting up for this event on Wednesday night from 6
to 8 p.m. If you feel you need extra time to set up your booth please
email me in advance and I will do my best to accommodate your needs.
Also, just a reminder that we are not providing power strips or
extension cords for this event. Please be sure to bring these items if
you have a need for electricity at your booth.
Once again we welcome you to our conference and we hope it will be a
rewarding time for you and your business. If you have any questions,
please e-mail me jcarsley@union30.org or call my cell at (207)590-8893.
Sincerely,
Jonathan J.Carsley, K-6 General Music, Band,& Chorus MMEA Exhibit Manager
33 Mill Street
Lisbon, Maine 04250
Home Phone: (207)782-3162
Cell Phone: (207)590-8893
Work Phone:(207)353-4132 ext: 419
Fax:(207)353-4815
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State Editor Report
May 2006
I attended two State Editor meetings at the National Conference. Discussions centered around several issues:
Listing email addresses on our websites (for those of us that do both jobs) -
The consensus was that our websites should NOT list email contact information as too many “spammers” and “phishers”
use those addresses for negative purposes.
After the Conference, all email addresses will be removed from the website EXCEPT the key contact officers.
All key contact officers (e.g. President; Vice-President; State Manager; State Editor) will be assigned web based email addresses.
Most of those have already been assigned. You will now contact (from outside our Exec Board email list) these people by typing
Editor@mainemmea.org to reach the Editor. If you want a contact email on the website, please notify me via email. Otherwise,
I will remove all contact info.
Veteran Editor Forum:
Two veteran editors from different states spoke about the use of Mailing Houses to send out our publications.
Layout issues were discussed.
Publication Editor from MENC Roz Fehr joined one of our meetings on request and solicited our feedback for the national publications
and offered feedback to us.
Elected a new Chairperson of the State Editors Council.
The Bulletin magazine:
- has many advertisers and several others were solicited at the National Conference.
- Will have four issues a year beginning with the summer issue (which will be combined with the Handbook) and deadlines/rates
will be adjusted accordingly.
- Will be looking into using a Mailing/Distribution House nearer to my location for convenience
- Will look at the possibility of using a color cover in the future.
- Need to get financial information from Mike in order to make a clear judgement on changes made.
- PLEASE update your addresses with MENC (mailing and email addresses)
- REQUEST: Would like to request that MMEA purchase the upgrade to the program that I purchased to do layout. Cost is $79.
I purchased the original for the same price last summer and this is the new upgrade that will fix some of my printing issues.
Website:
- Has averaged about 100 page views a day for most of this year.
- Has had favorable comments (most of the time!) as to the current nature of news
- Continues to need reports of bad links or incorrect information emailed to the Editor
Handbook:
- The Handbook will fall under the Editor this year.
- Handbook will again be combined with a Bulletin issue, but will be issued as the Summer Edition in addition to the other
three issues.
- Deadline date for the Handbook AND Summer Issue of the Bulletin will be July 21.
- Handbooks will be expected to be mailed the first or second week of August to ALL MS and HS in the state as well as the
regular membership and advertisers.
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Auditions Co-Chair Report -
The audition list will be ready by meeting time; the
only thing holding it up is the brass. It is getting
a major overhaul; just waiting for the trumpet piece
and then last time check for availability.
Strings have had a bit of a shakeup with new scale
requirements and other "stuff".
Percussion: the Whaley may not be available after this
year; I'm hoping there will be enough copies to get us
through another audition season. Spoke about this
with Nancy Laite and she will talk with her
"committee" to see what direction they want to go in
if in fact the Whaley disappears.
Vocal judges, if they are at the conference, will be
required to go to Erin Lowell's session on the new
vocal audition format.
Sam Moore-Young
All State Auditions Co-Chair
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