Collegiate Division Updates

The 2021-2022 AMEA Collegiate Executive Board and Advisor have been busy planning many exciting events for the upcoming school year. The 2021 Collegiate Summit, Connect, will occur on October 24 at the University of Alabama. We hope to see student participation from colleges and universities all across the state of Alabama. This event will allow students to reconnect once again in person, although some sessions will be available via Zoom for those unable to attend live. Our attendees will also be provided opportunities for professional development, such as participating in a new teachers panel and breakout sessions with experienced music educators. Our keynote speaker is Dr. Ruth Brittin, Chair of the Department of Music Education at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California. Guest speakers from across the state of Alabama include Margaret Heron (Choral Director and AP Music Theory Instructor at Mortimer Jordan High School and North Jefferson Middle School), Dr. Daniel Stevens (Professor and Conductor of Shoals Symphony at UNA and Alabama Orchestra Association President), and Amber Hartley (General Music Teacher and Director of the Brookwood Elementary Orff Ensemble).

We are partnering with Dr. Michael Zelenak and the Higher Education Division of AMEA to present the first-ever Lesson Planning Competition. College students will be asked to submit three lesson plans using the edTPA framework. A panel of university music education specialists will review submissions and choose the top finalists for the competition. These finalists will present one lesson in front of fellow collegiate colleagues at the AMEA Conference in January 2022. This competition will challenge students to grow in their lesson-planning skills, overcome lesson-planning anxiety, expand their understanding of the edTPA framework, and network with their peers.

We hope through both of these events that our collegiate colleagues are encouraged, challenged, and inspired, as well as introduced to a broader scope of music educators across the various divisions AMEA has to offer. In closing, we have decided to move the ALcNAfME Collegiate Newsletter to a quarterly email to align more closely with the Ala Breve releases. We wish to continue boosting enrollment and participation through this newsletter and highlighting active chapters from all over the state.

Collegiate Division Updates

The Collegiate Division has had a successful spring semester. The ALcNAfME board members, Emma Tosney (President), Mariah Martin (Vice-President), John Niiler (Treasurer), and Hannah Creel (Secretary), had the opportunity to participate in NAfME’s 2021 Hill Day. In this event, we advocated for music education with several state legislators alongside AMEA Governing Board members Dr. Rob Lyda, Dr. Meghan Merciers (ALcNAfME State Advisor), Dr. Greg Gumina, Dr. Becky Halliday, and Mr. David Raney. The collegiate members offered a unique perspective on the importance of music education that proved effective in the meetings and helped to bring to light some of the challenges that we have faced in the classroom due to the pandemic.

The executive board began planning the 2021 Alabama Collegiate Summit, which will take place on October 24 at the University of Alabama. We are excited to have the opportunity to meet in person at this event and expect to see many universities represented from across the state. Because of the effects of COVID-19, the theme for this year’s Summit is “Connect.” We hope to offer an opportunity for students to reconnect with one another and hear how connection is vital in the classroom. We are also planning on reaching out to initiative collegiate chapters throughout the summer to engage less active chapters and increase numbers in membership.

The ALcNAfME newsletter is still underway and helping to streamline communication between the various chapters throughout the state. In the newsletter, we post updates for collegiates and have a collegiate chapter and student spotlight; it has been a successful way for the various chapters to stay connected throughout the busy semester.

 

The collegiate division of AMEA has had a successful school year. Despite the effects of COVID-19, we were still able to successfully carry out the Collegiate Summit and AMEA Conference.

The 2020 Alabama Collegiate Summit was virtually held in October. The Summit focused on innovation in the music classroom during the COVID-19 pandemic. We hosted various guest speakers, including Andy Meadows, Dr. Pat Stegall, Randy Fields, Dr. Rob Lyda, and a panel of new teachers. We had thirty- five attendees and four faculty advisors from eight different universities across the state, including Samford, Alabama, Troy, North Alabama, Alabama State, Jacksonville State, and Alabama at Birmingham. The event served as a great encouragement in the middle of such a challenging school semester as many students transitioned to online classes.

The 2021 AMEA Conference, held in January, proved tremendously successful for the collegiate division, despite it occurring virtually for the first time. We hosted various sessions in conjunction with other divisions, covering everything from score study to sight-reading to building relationships in the classroom. The collegiate social events – coffee hour and game night – provided a space for students to build long-lasting connections with one another. As the weekend came to a close, elections were held, and the 2021-2022 Collegiate Executive Board is as follows:

President: Emma Tosney, University of Alabama
Vice President/President Elect: Mariah Martin, University of Alabama
Secretary: Hannah Creel, Samford University
Treasurer: John Niiler, University of Alabama

We will continue to update cNAfME chapters with our monthly collegiate newsletter and on our Instagram (@ua_cnafme) page. We are looking forward to another great year!