As we all enter the last stretch of the 2020-2021 school year I would first commend you for everything you have done this school year and, for that matter, the past 12 months. You have all been warriors for music education and your students. I know there have been successes and failures on the way and I hope you have celebrated your successful times, lessons, battles, performances, etc. that have occurred and that you have not been deterred by the less successful times but instead learned from them for the future and turned those outcomes into positive instances as well. Trying times can do one of two things: give you impetus for change or give you incentive to fight for success. I sincerely hope that it is the latter that you choose because students in Colorado need music in their lives as never before.
Secondly, I would encourage you to make contact with your local health department and encourage them to stay up to date with the various Aerosol studies, encouraging them to keep tract of both the CSU and CU findings. Help them by sending links as new information appears throughout the summer. Do the same for your school and district's administration and do it in a way that shows you would like to work together to make your program and classroom safe for students to study the magic of music. If there is a local ad-hoc committee comprised of members of the community, school district and local health department that help to drive policy and decisions in regard to positive tests, exposure and close contact, I ask that you do the same. Provide what the studies show and how you are working to the best of your ability to meet those recommendations. Friendly. Positive. Proactive. I sincerely hope this will go a long way toward a positive beginning to the 2021-2022 school year. Best of luck to your last few weeks of school and have a happy, healthy and restful summer.
This time of year all of you are focused on getting through the spring concert season, whatever form that takes for you and your program. You serve as an inspiration to our profession and the developing music educators who are finishing their university degrees. Although you are all quite busy, I want to send encouragement to you to begin considering submitting a presentation proposal for the 2022 CMEA Clinic/Conference to be held this coming January of 2022. In the past several years, the College/University Council has been particularly interested are proposals that address issues relevant to our students who soon will be joining the music education profession and looking for that first job. We also would like to see proposals relevant to young teachers in their first 5 years of teaching. These desired topics include: getting that first/next job, work/life balance, working with administration, budgeting/finance, diversity/inclusion, gender identity recognition, scheduling, advocacy, etc. There is such a wealth of knowledge and experience you can offer. If you are considering more than one topic, feel free to submit more than one proposal. Several people give multiple presentations at the conference. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me (email is on the CMEA website) at any time. I hope everyone has a great summer and we look forward to seeing your ideas for future presentations. Best wishes for a strong finish to this school year!
General Music Council News
Cathy Keller, Chair
Happy almost summer break to my fellow General Music Educators!
With spring upon us and summer just around the corner, the CMEA Board has shifted our “normal” timeline to accommodate such an extraordinary and challenging year. The Call for Proposals to Present at CMEA 2022 opens June 1st and closes August 1st. It is such an important year to share your thoughts, ideas, and new teaching strategies and materials as well to attend the conference so that we can reconnect and learn! The General Music Council is committed to providing opportunities for all our general music educators to learn and teach while here. We hope to have a variety of sessions, but in particular are looking for proposals centered around how we, as educators, can provide safe and inclusive spaces in our elementary/middle general music classrooms. Please consider submitting a session proposal as I truly believe that no idea, lesson plan, unit, thought, and belief is too small!
Feel free to reach out to me with any questions, suggestions, or just to say hi! You can reach me at cmea.gmc@gmail.com.
Instrumental Council News
Pete Toews, Chair
The school year is almost over, and I’m hoping you can take some time this summer to relax and refresh. We began building our performance calendar for next year, and I am optimistic that we will see a more typical school year in 2021-22. I’m hopeful that we will be able to share the excitement of festivals, honor ensembles, and concerts with our students and our communities. I am also excited to be part of planning for the CMEA Clinic/Conference in January!
The Instrumental Music Council will again be partnering with CBA and CO-ASTA to provide some amazing headliners to bring a national perspective to our conference. But, there is also such a wealth of knowledge right here in our own membership! If you have an idea for a great clinic, don’t second guess your ability to present to your peers. You have unique skills and experiences that would benefit the teaching professionals in our state. I’m asking you to please consider submitting a clinic proposal. You may be passionate about diversity and equity in the instrumental classroom, technology, recruiting and building ensemble programs, student leadership, etc. If you are not interested in presenting a clinic, I would also encourage you to reach out to your IMC District Representative to let us know what you need and want from CMEA. You might thrive in a round-table session to discuss best practices and brainstorm ideas.
The members of the IMC are committed to providing support in your efforts to continue providing outstanding music education to your students.
We Are CMEA: Stronger Together!
Vocal Council News
Tanner Ohara, Chair
Hello wonderful providers of musical opportunities.
I hope you are finding joy as you create the culminating experiences for your programs. We are excited to be calling for the 2022 CMEA clinic/conference session proposals. What do you and your colleagues have to offer as an insightful or inspiring experience for our state's educators? What practice makes your room the best version of itself? What ways have you created spaces for empowerment and inclusion of all singers? What have you discovered that makes your rehearsal or life go better? These are just some of the questions in my mind of what could make a great proposal. Let this be a formal invitation all of you to offer your expertise and also encourage those who have given you great ideas to share your experiences at our wonderful conference. The vocal council is looking forward to hearing from as many of you as possible.
Greetings from Tri-M
Michelle Ewer, Chair
Thanks to Janay Bird and the directors in St. Vrain Schools for inviting me to speak about Tri-M. I hope the information will inspire you to start a chapter next fall. I am always happy to discuss Tri-M with anyone who is interested in starting a chapter. Feel free to reach out anytime.
My chapter was charged with creating a digital program for our spring concert. While this seemed a bit daunting to me, I presented it to my students and they were all over it. They knew exactly what and how to do it. Never underestimate the ability of your students. Give them the chance to be leaders.
It is time to start thinking about proposals for Tri-M day 2022. It will take place on Wednesday January 26th, at the Broadmoor Hotel. What can you offer as an educator to Tri-M day? Did you discover a new resource during the pandemic to share? Tri-M is about leadership and building community involvement. Tri-M is learning how to take care of ourselves as musicians. Tri-M is bonding and creating and composing. Do you have a workshop in mind to address the needs of Tri-M? If you answered yes, please consider submitting a proposal. The window to submit will be available June 1st -August 1st.
Tri-M day is a wonderful opportunity to reach hundreds of students who thrive at gaining knowledge. Classroom teachers, College Professors, please consider presenting at Tri-M day. Watch for more details at www.cmeaonline.org
Co-hosted by 13 state Music Education Associations.
We welcome you to join us on July 13-15, 2021!
Theme: Making Equity Actionable
How do we welcome all students and teachers as we seek to improve equitable access and representation in music education? Educators will learn strategies for opening doors to all students while evaluating the curricula we teach to ensure cultural relevance.
The 2021 July Virtual Conference features keynotes addresses, breakout options, research sessions, daylong tracks, admin tracks, and more!
All sessions will be hosted live between 11:00 AM and 5:15 PM ET daily.
Registration includes access to the event, session recording archives for one year, and a professional development certificate valued at “15 contact hours.”
Please help us spread the word by forwarding this email to friends and colleagues.
Did you know that you can purchase CMEA Solo and Ensemble Awards even if you did not attend a CHSAA Solo and Ensemble Festival? If you hosted a regional Solo and Ensemble Festival or a county of district festival you can still order CMEA Solo and Ensemble medals.
Have you participated in a CHSAA Large Group Festival and put off ordering the award plaque? You can still order plaques for past festivals.
Did you have students in All-State Jazz Band, All-State Jazz Choir, All-State Orchestra, or the Elementary, Middle School, or High School All-State Choirs? If you did this might be a great time to honor these students with an All-State Medal. You can order these medals for your students and have them shipped directly to your home address. This is a great way to recognize your students for their accomplishment.
Have you thought about stocking up on Solo and Ensemble Medals, All-State Medals, or Clinic/Conference Performing Group medals? This might be a good time to spend remain budget dollars to stock up on these medals before your funds run out.
All award orders can be placed by going to the CMEA web site at cmeaonline.org, clicking on the General Information Tab and Clicking on the Order CMEA Awards Tab. All transactions can be completed on-line, including credit card payment.
Do you have questions regarding CMEA awards? You can direct those questions to CMEA Awards Manager- Ken Anderson at awardscmeaonline@gmail.com
