A short year ago, I wrote about the honor that I feel in having the opportunity to serve the National Association for Music Education as president. It has been a year characterized by challenges, opportunities, and rewards, all framed in the context of commitment on the part of each member of the National Executive Board, our staff, and our most important constituency, the state music educators associations (MEAs).
Your professional organization has shown a commitment to excellence in such areas as advocacy, teacher evaluation, standards, professional development, and organizational vitality. Advocacy efforts are represented by the continued growth of the Music Education Policy Roundtable and its adoption of a common legislative agenda, a successful “Share Your Story” campaign that resulted in more than a thousand stories being shared on Capitol Hill this year, and participation in the creation and implementation of a music educator–focused GRAMMY Award.
A Teacher Evaluation Task Force chaired by President-Elect Glenn Nierman has worked diligently to produce materials that include a workbook to be released this fall. These materials are designed to assist teachers, principals, and other evaluators in implementing the variety of teacher evaluation models being required at the state level. Standards writing is progressing well thanks to the enormous commitment of Scott Shuler, Immediate Past President, and a very large team of writers from around the United States. These standards will look quite different from previous versions and should inspire teachers to increase creativity and innovation in classrooms across the nation.
NAfME’s commitment to professional development is represented by such events as the upcoming 2013 National In-Service Conference scheduled for October 27–30 at the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Conference Center in Nashville, Tennessee, and the recently renamed NAfME Music Research & Teacher Education National Conference in St. Louis, April 10–12, 2014, where the keynote speaker will be Daniel Levitin, author of This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession. Additionally, we celebrate the commitment of Music Educators Journal (MEJ) to our professional development as we commemorate the 100th year of this periodical, a milestone shared by very few publications. Among the many events planned for this celebration is the MEJ Centennial Collegiate Essay Contest. Please check the following link for details pertaining to this opportunity—http://musiced.nafme.org/mej-centennial-collegiate-essay-contest/—with a submission deadline of October 15, 2013.
Organizational vitality will be increased through the implementation of membership campaigns in several states, joining efforts of state MEA leaders and the national office in an effort to increase membership. As more music educators join the national and state organizations and show commitment and dedication not only to excellence in teaching but also in service to the profession, we can all work together to make the case that Music Education Orchestrates Success!
“Commitment is what transforms a promise into reality. It is the words that speak boldly of your intentions. And the actions that speak louder than the words. It is making the time when there is none. Coming through time after time, year after year. Commitment is the stuff character is made of, the power to change the face of things. It is the daily triumph of integrity over skepticism.”
