Report: President’s Report
Dr. Michele Kashub, MMEA President
In late October, National MENC President Scott Shuler vis- ited Maine to provide a keynote and pair of workshops for collegiate music education majors. This is the first year that MMEA has co-sponsored the Collegiate Conference that is run by the USM Collegiate Chapter of MENC. The confer- ence was attended by over 150 students from UMaine, Bos- ton University, Anna Maria College, Keene, Bridgewater and Plymouth State. The Collegiate Chapter won a National Chapter of Excellence Award for their inaugural symposium held in 2009. Officers of the CMENC chapter will offer a presentation on their conference to Eastern Division CMENC chapters in early April in Baltimore.
MMEA President’s Calendar: October 30
December 8
Hosted National MENC President Scott Shuler during his visit for our Collegiate Symposium.
MENC National Board/ Professional Development Com- mittee Meeting re: Music Educa- tion Week in Washington, DC
January 17-21 February 13-14
Adjudicating national MENC/ BMI John Lennon Songwriting Contest
Adjudicating the Mrs. Maine Pag- eant (MENC has an arrangement with the Mrs. America Pageant that has Mrs. America and her state sisters advocating for music education for every child.
March 30
Eastern Division Meeting, Balti- more, MD
March 31-April 2 Eastern Division MENC Confer- ence, Baltimore, MD
April 2
USM CMENC Chapter will pre- sent at Eastern Division reporting on their fall Collegiate Confer- ence
BOC All-State auditions ran smoothly at all sites throughout the late fall and preparations for both the festival and the In- Service Conference are well underway. Sue Proulx of Scar- borough HS has taken the role of All-State Festival Chair and is doing a tremendous job of shepherding this year’s festival while also working with ensemble managers to secure con- tracts with future conductors. We are delighted that Sue agreed to assume this role within our organization.
The All-State Jazz Festival successfully avoided winter snows and was beautifully run by an outstanding team of MMEA VPs, ensemble managers and hosts. Thank you to Dan Granholm for shepherding a superb team in making this op- portunity available to our students.
Looking ahead, the MMEA Executive Board is exploring an appeal to the Maine Revenue Service to secure tax-exempt status. This is a lengthy procedure, but if successful will save MMEA several thousand dollars of expenses associated with running All-State and the In-Service conference.
We are also once again partnering with other arts organiza- tions through the Arts are Basic Coalition to continue sup- porting the services of a professional lobbyist in Augusta. Our lobbyist is carefully watching all legislative action relat- ing to graduation requirements and other educational bills that could impact how arts education is offered and supported in the State of Maine.
And finally, I caution each music teacher to take time to build strong partnerships and support for the arts within your com- munity. Your district chairs have a copy of a letter that I wrote earlier this fall that you can edit and date and distribute to community members, school board members, administra- tion and others who have decision-making power related to schools and the arts programs that they offer. Please take time to save music for your students BEFORE a crisis emerges. As always, if you need support in advocating for an endangered program, contact your district chair and President Elect Nancy Curran and myself. We will support you in any way that we can as we all work together to make sure that music is available for every child.
Respectfully submitted, Michele Kaschub, PhD
President, Maine Music Educators Association
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