President’s Message
Karen Salvador
It is hard to believe that my time as president of MMEA is coming to an end. I am happy to pass along the reins to Lisa Furman, Ph.D., the new president of our organization effec- tive June 2018. She is currently the Director of Academic Assessment at Olivet College, and I know that her years of experience as a music educator in East Jackson will combine with her experiences directing the education programs at Olivet College and her current expertise in administration to make her a great leader for MMEA.
When I look back on the last two years, I believe that we have accomplished a great deal—both behind the scenes and in very visible ways. Here are some highlights:
• Over the past two years, we have worked steadily to redesign MMEA’s organizational structures to provide more opportunities for building leader- ship, more opportunities for members to serve, and more capacity for growth in our three focus areas: Professional Development, Student Activities, and Advocacy. Te new committees are in various stages of getting up and run- ning. Please visit our website if you are interested in seeing how you fit in with the new structure.
• We revised our bylaws, both to reflect the board restructure and also because bylaws should be kept updated. MMEA membership approved the new bylaws at our January 2018 meeting. Tis sum- mer, we will be working through updat- ing our policy manual.
• We created a contract and perfor- mance evaluation structure for our Executive Director. Much of our growth and many of our accomplishments as an organization can be attributed to having a professional staff person who keeps us running. Cory Micheel-Mays is cur- rently our Executive Director, and his administrative abilities, organizational acumen, and the relationships he has cultivated are of tremendous value to MMEA as an organization and also for music educators all over Michigan.
• We expanded the number and types of professional development and student activities that we offer, with volunteers running instrumental clinics, honors choirs, young singers’ choral work- shops, technology workshops, general music workshops (and preconferences at MMC), collegiate conferences, and starting a mentoring program. If our executive director is the backbone of MMEA, our volunteers (including board members) are its brain, its heart, and the whole rest of the body. We are incredibly fortunate to have all of these people working on behalf of music edu- cators, music education programs, and music students in our state.
• We have continued our advocacy and policy efforts, working with legislators to introduce bills that would mandate elementary music instruction (we are one of only 5 states without such a man- date). We host an annual music educa- tion advocacy day at the state capital, and we have been involved in work on ESSA implementation and certification structure changes with the Michigan Department of Education.
Many thanks to all of you: members, volun- teers, board members, and Cory. I am grate- ful for this opportunity to work with all of you. Serving on the MMEA board, working on the MMC Planning Committee and MMC Executive Board, and joining state- and na- tional-level advocacy and policy efforts have been amazing opportunities for my profes- sional and personal learning and growth. I look forward to continuing service in my new role as MMEA past president, and also to moving on to new challenges as I assume my duties as president-elect of NAfME’s North Central Division. I invite music educators from around the state to join MMEA as we continue working toward our goal: that all children in Michigan will have access to sequential and ongoing music instruction, facilitated by effective and responsive profes- sional educators.
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