President-Elect Updates Lisa Vartanian Paramus School District lvartanian@paramusschools.org
Greetings and Happy New Year to everyone! In this report, I will share some stories from presenters at the National Association for Music Education’s Leadership Forum in November. I also am including an interview I conducted recently with our colleague Jayson Martinez at Arts High School in Newark. At a time when we all continue to struggle with the effects of COVID-19 on our lives and our work, I find comfort and inspiration in the determination of music educators to keep finding creative and effective ways to connect with our students and put them on a path to success and fulfillment. Stay safe and keep up the great work!
NAfME LEADERSHIP FORUM On November 4 and 5, 2020, I had the opportunity to attend the National Association for Music Education’s Leadership Forum. As always, I left inspired by the many outstanding presentations from incredible music educators and leaders around the country such as Anne Fennell, Michael Stone, Marc Greene, and Timothy Bupp. I want to highlight two workshops I attended. Our Hero’s Journey Anne M Fennell, M.Ed. K-12 Music Program Manager, SDUSD, San Diego, CA, CMEA President-Elect, NAfME Immediate Past Innovations Council Chair Anne Fennell gave the keynote to start the Forum, entitled, “Our Hero’s Journey.” I will summarize her points, but I implore you to visit her website and read the full report. It took my breath away, and I think you will feel the same after you read it. She shares that music teachers are the real inspiration in the story, “Our Hero’s TEMPO
Journey,” Supervising Music and the Visual, Performing Arts, and 21st Century Life and Career programs for the district, I can say, with certainty, that all teachers are heroes in this journey. Ms. Fennell takes us on a journey through the process of teaching through the pandemic, and presents teachers with several badges. She says that “what keeps us on our path is our beliefs and that we passionately care for music education.” The first badge she presents is the Badge of Courage. Teachers, no matter what was sent your way, you “mustered the courage and became the computer genius, tech support, counselor, teacher of teachers, learner, creator, guide, and overall musical magicians while you encouraged everyone to share and give.” You also earn the Badge of Perseverance because no matter what, you “climbed onward to do what was right for your students.” You also earn the Badge of Resilience. “You learned about who you were, what you can do, and what is possible.” Anne ends with a challenge. She asks about the ending of the story. “If you have integrated your new knowledge and grown to live a new life, then YOU will receive the title or Badge of Master because you became the master of both worlds with newfound freedom and expansiveness for all. Courage, Perseverance, and Resilience are already yours. You are in charge of how your story ends.” Read the full keynote in Anne’s blog, https://www.annefennell.com/blog Creating a Music Program that Uses Contemporary and Traditional Ensembles and Instruction to Reach All Students Timothy Bupp Music Supervisor, Spring Grove, PA. In this presentation, Timothy Bupp challenges all of us to create music programs in our schools that reach 10
JANUARY 2021
