Resilient: If the recent past has taught us anything, the lesson gleaned is the Alabama Music Educators Association is resilient. From COVID shutting down our conference, to putting on a very successful virtual conference the following year, and even having to reschedule performance groups after canceling our 2024 conference due to weather concerns, this association has shown time and time again that together we are resilient. I am honored to have been elected to lead such an organization. With your support, we will continue the tradition of making music education accessible to all students in Alabama and modernizing our association.
For many of us, the 2024-2025 school year has already begun with choir camps, band camps, and countless other activities currently in full swing. On social media and in conversations with friends and colleagues, I have been inspired by the efforts you have gone through to improve your practice via professional development from across the state and even across the nation. Whether you spent your time learning new things to incorporate this upcoming school year, or relaxed and reflected on what you need to change, you are already making an impact in the lives of students, many of whom you will meet for the first time soon. Thank you for what you will do for our students.
AMEA Summer Board Meeting
In early June, your AMEA Governing Board met to discuss activities for the upcoming year. Each division was well represented and presented a plethora of planned activities, as well as success stories of events that have already taken place. As you will read in the articles following this one, there are musical activities planned for every teacher, age group, size, geographic location, and discipline. If you have other activities you would like to propose to further modernize our association and reach more students and/or teachers, please do not hesitate to reach out to the division presidents or to me.
During the summer meeting, we discussed and voted to make all Ala Breve Magazines digital. Last year we experimented with three digital copies and one printed version for the conference. Since many of us always carry some form of digital device with us, the informative Ala Breve articles will now always be at our fingertips for quick and easy access.
After making the very painful, but proper, decision to cancel our 2024 professional development conference due to weather concerns, we learned that our members were getting information concerning the association from multiple places like various social media sites, the website, and word of mouth. Unfortunately, due to algorithms on certain social media sites that we utilize, we discovered members may not be getting the most current information in real time. To alleviate this, we will utilize our website as the most current, real-time source of information. Our Assistant Executive Director David Raney is a whiz at updating the website and can update it more quickly than waiting for the proper information to hit your timelines on social media. So, moving forward, if in doubt, check the website.
Speaking of the website…have you had a chance to peruse our newly redesigned website? www.myamea.org. David has been quite busy organizing and building our new website to make it user-friendly and accessible. Trying to remember the title of an Ala Breve article you read in 2010? Check the Ala Breve archives tab! Need to know the date of the elementary All-State honor choir? Check the front page for a calendar of events! Currently, a lot of information has already been added to the website, but please be patient as the website will be a continual work in progress.
NAfME National Assembly and Hill Day 2024
Dr. Rusty Logan, Dr. Shane Colquhoun, and I traveled to Reston, Va to participate in NAfME’s National Leadership Assembly and Hill Day. Leaders of music educator associations (MEAs) from across the United States gathered to materialize topics covered in NAfME’s strategic plan and blueprint, and how to practically enact these initiatives in our states. Throughout this working assembly, we discussed and provided insight on advocacy issues plaguing our states, music teacher recruitment and retention, ways NAfME can better support our MEAs, and various other topics. NAfME President, Dr. Deb Confredo, provided words of inspiration and encouragement as we mingled with other states. During the National Assembly, we also met in regional meetings. I was honored to participate in the Southern Division meeting led by our very own Susan Smith. You will hear more from her and her vision for the Southern Division in the very near future. I will say after meeting with and hearing some of the operational issues other MEAs are having, I am honored and proud to be a member of AMEA!
One of the highlights of the National Assembly was traveling to Washington, DC to meet with our state representatives. Dr. Colquhoun and I had the great opportunity to meet with staffers from Representatives Robert Aderholt, Terri Sewell, Gary Palmer, Mike Rogers, and Barry Moore. During these meetings, we were able to advocate for continued support for Title I, II, and IV funds, the Inclusive Arts Education Act, and the Arts Education for All Act. We also reported the lucrative financial impact the music industry contributes to our state so they could see the direct impact our work has on the state. The staffers were welcoming to our delegation and many signaled continued support of the legislation from our representatives.
2025 Professional Development Conference
Plans are already underway for what we know will be a memorable 2025 Professional Development Conference. We are excited to welcome you back to Birmingham at the BJCC on January 23-25, 2025. Division presidents and their committees are diligently reviewing session proposals and performance applications for this conference. The sessions and performing groups will be announced in the next edition of the Ala Breve, however, I am delighted that our guest for the week will be Dr. Tim Lautzenheiser. Dr. Tim has announced his forthcoming retirement, so we wanted to make sure to bring him back “home” one more time. During the week, Dr. Tim will present several sessions, interact and encourage our Future Alabama Music Educators (FAME), and keynote on Friday. You will not want to miss him! I am also pleased to announce that our featured performers will be The Aeolians of Oakwood University from Huntsville. This group was programmed to perform at the 2024 conference, but I did not want the opportunity to pass without us hearing this amazing group. Stay tuned for more information.
During the National Assembly, President Confredo strongly encouraged the leadership of our MEAs to intentionally make positive contact with the collegiates who were present as they are the future of our profession and our association. I want to echo her sentiment and encourage you during the conference, and throughout the year, to intentionally seek out and contact the collegiate members of our association. As Alabama faces issues with filling classroom teaching positions, we as music educators are not exempt. To keep music alive and thriving in our state it is going to take the effort of our current and retired members to help train up the next generation of music educators. The conference is a great way to begin the process of making this happen. Also, if you know of someone who is a first-year teacher, or early career teacher, and you are mid-career to retired, invite them to coffee. LISTEN to their issues and ideas and share yours with them. I think we would be surprised at how far a little bit of acknowledgment can and will go.
Vision
The 2024-2025 school year will begin my 24th year of teaching with experience at the high school band and choir, elementary, and collegiate levels. Along the way, I’ve been blessed to meet and learn from superior teachers from all walks of life, who invested time and attention to ensure I was growing at an appropriate rate and continuing to hone my teaching craft. While I still have a long way to go to be considered superior, I am thankful for those who continue to help me. As I am able, and as often as I can, I want to help others like I have been helped.
My vision for AMEA is for this association to serve as a beacon of light to those who may need assistance, and to attract other forms of light. While we may not be able to solve every problem that comes our way, we will examine them and give it our best try. I encourage each of you to seek out mentor/mentee relationships to help move our profession forward. Time is an issue facing everyone, but I encourage each of you to carve out time to reach out even if it is once a month. Every voice is important, regardless of the level of experience you may have, so we want to highlight all voices from across our state. Seasoned teachers can still learn something from new teachers, and new teachers DO have something to teach seasoned ones. The handle of our website is MYamea.org. I want to encourage you to own the “MY” portion of AMEA and continue to make this the best association ever.
Stay resilient and have a fantastic school year. Know that we are here if you need us.
Phil R. Wilson, President