Elementary

Amie Schaff

you so much for an enriching and joyful year of music engagement, advocacy, and collaboration! I hope that each one of you left our annual conference recharged and full of ideas for your classroom. On behalf of the elementary division, I would like to express tremendous appreciation to Peripole, Dancing Drum, and Ponce De Leon Music Center for providing instruments for many of our sessions.

was an overwhelming joy to be able to welcome back TWO full choirs of over 500 students for our Statewide Elementary Honor Chorus All-State event in Athens, Georgia! These choirs represented the top fourth and fifth grade choral students from elementary schools across the state of Georgia! I want to extend a heartfelt thank you to our organizers, Marti Parker (district 13) and Letricia Henson (district 5), who helped everything run smoothly. Of course, we extend our gratitude this year’s exemplary clinicians, Dr. David Langley and Ms. Amanda Dodd, for giving our students an unforgettable learning experience. Finally, I would like to congratulate our amazing fourth and fifth graders and their outstanding directors as they continued the great tradition of distinguished performances for the GMEA Statewide Elementary Honor Chorus!

I have been honored to serve as your Elementary Division Chair over the past two years. Thank you for entrusting this volunteer position to me and giving me the privilege of working alongside the best music educators around! I can’t wait to see what amazing things the future brings for our division under our incoming elementary division chair, Letricia Henson, starting June 1, 2023, for her 2023 - 25 term! Best wishes for a restful and rejuvenating summer!

-Amie Schaff

Spring is here! By now, you have checked LGPE off your annual “to-do” list and begun preparations for your upcoming spring concert. The topic of “end-of-year” activities has entered your lesson planning and you are preparing for graduations, instrument returns, and so many other things that help to mark the end of another school year.

As we prepare for the end of the year, I encourage you to attend your spring district meeting. Also, I would like to remind you of the following upcoming deadlines:

• May 15, 2023 - Orchestra LGPE Music Literature Request Deadline (OPUS)

• May 16, 2023 - In-Service Conference Performing Group Application Deadline (GMEA Website)

• May 16, 2023 - In-Service Conference Session Application Deadline (GMEA Website)

As I write my last letter as state division chair, I can’t help but to feel extremely appreciative of each and every one of you! Thank you for your support over the last two years. Thank you to every volunteer, organizer, all-state judge, monitor, ISC presenter, presider, host…everyone! It is because of you that GMEA is one of the premier music education organizations in the nation. I am proud to be a member of this organization and it has been my honor to serve you all in this capacity.

-Stephen Lawrence-Carroll