you think you are capable of doing. Let me repeat that. To stretch yourself, you need to work beyond what you think you are capable of doing. If you challenge yourself with something you know you can do, it’s not a challenge. It’s just keeping busy.
It doesn’t matter if this is your first year of teaching or your
last, you need to keep growing and developing your craft. You need to collect another t-shirt. And when you think you have too many of them, give me a call. I know how to roll them up so you can put a ton of them in one drawer and make room for more.
Oh . . . my t-shirt challenge for this year? How about stepping
into being NAfME Northwest Division President. That is so out of my comfort zone! Nevertheless - here we go! Thankfully I stand on the shoulders of fantastic past leaders who have done great work with our division. Your appreciation of their efforts and recognition of their skills was in full evidence as we honored some of them at the conference in Bellevue. Your enthusiastic applause and standing ovations said a lot about your recognition of
their hard work. Also, I work with a Northwest Board of dedicated state leaders who want the very best for us and our profession. I’m not going it alone, that’s for sure.
I look forward to meeting many of you this year. I can’t wait to see what t-shirt you’ll be wearing.
On the national level. Be sure and check out our candidates
for NAfME President-Elect. I can tell you that both Lance Nielsen and Mackie Spradley are wonderful people and will lead our association with different styles but nevertheless with thoughtfulness and creativity. You really can’t make a bad choice. Talk about people who are willing to embrace a challenge!
NAfME is working to make the world of music is strong
and viable at every level. Thank you for what you do everyday to ensure music as a viable and valued part of our educational mission.
John Combs is the Fine Arts Supervisor for Missoula County Public Schools in Missoula, Montana. Previously, he taught high school band for 31 years in Shelby and Missoula, Montana. John holds his B.M.E. from The University of Montana and his M.M.E. from The University of Southern California where he was selected as the Outstanding Graduate Student in Music Education. His bands have performed from border to border and coast to coast in award winning fashion. He took his marching bands to The Tournament of Roses Parade on four occasions and has performed for the NAfME All-Northwest Division Conference with his concert and jazz bands. Besides being given the Montana Music Educators Association’s Leadership Award, John was selected as the Northwest Region’s Outstanding Music Educator for the National Federation of High Schools and has been inducted into the Bandworld Legion of Honor by the John Philip Sousa Foundation. Currently, John is in charge of a fine arts program in Missoula that has been designated as one of only 24 Kennedy Center ANY GIVEN CHILD cities and is listed as a “2017 Best Communities for Music Education” by the National Association of Music Merchants. He is the President of the Northwest Division of NAfME and the proud father of three outstanding young women – all of whom received a great music education.
Editor’s Note Be in the Know! S
ince you’re reading this, you know that we’ve gone digital only - at least for this, and the spring issues. There are obvious advantages:
a substantial cost savings over print issues, quicker direct delivery to recipients, available any time on any device. And disadvantages? Some folks just prefer the print version in hand. If it sits around, you’re possibly more likely to pick it up more than once.
What we know from our last digital issue is that 263 different IP log-
ins accessed the journal, and we had over 800 hits. That sounds like a lot, but what it really means is that people went back to the journal more than once. We’re interested to know what you think about digital only. So, if you have a minute, click on the form on the website to offer your opinion.
This is going to be an exciting and busy year for WMEA. District
and state events are probably what come to mind. In our digital world, information abounds, but we encourage you to take a minute to familiarize yourself with all of the info available through our website (www.
Fall 2017 |
www.wyomea.org And finally, a special thanks to my Windsong copy editors, Debbie
Rose and Pam Schweigert. Editing for errors is a gift, and they both have it - I apparently have a gift for reading past them!
9
wyomea.org), the NAfME website (
nafme.org), and WHSAA (whsaa. org). Our website can provide all the facts you need regarding All-State, the WMEA State Music Conference, district events, the calender, links to other associations, elections, and so much more.
And speaking of elections ... at the General Assembly meeting in
January, the President-Elect will present to the membership a slate of nominees for open positions on the WMEA Exective Board. Are you interested in serving the association and music educators of Wyoming? Positions open in 2018 are: President Elect, Secondary Vice President, Band Vice President, and In-Ovations Vice President. Contact Brent Rose, Chad Rose, or Sandy Steele if you need more information regarding what each office entails. Get involved and make a difference!!
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