Here are the latest articles from our leaders published in the Ala Breve. To see all the Ala Breve articles and more, go to our Ala Breve Archive page.
October is here. The excitement of a brand-new school year has started to fade, the “back-to-school” energy is long gone, and the reality of daily rehearsals, football games, sectionals, and concert prep is in full swing. For many of us, this time of year feels like the longest stretch of the school calendar.
Every school year seems to go by a little faster than the last. I can’t believe we are halfway through the first semester. The beginning of the year is a whirlwind of new students, establishing new routines, new parents, new policies, scheduling issues, new repertoire, and on and on the list goes.
Happy fall, music educators! I hope everyone had a successful back-to-school season and is settling into their school years nicely. We are excited to get into our 2025-2026 events and celebrate orchestral music in our state! AOA is looking forward to an excellent year of learning and music-making.
I hope by now everyone is settling into a new school year. It’s hard to believe that conference season is right around the corner! Our AMEA Professional Development Conference has always been a highlight of the year for me, and I know many of you feel the same way.
This year, there is an AI initiative at the school where I teach. This got me thinking about what AI would come up with if I asked it what the issues were in higher education in Alabama for Music Education.
We hope that your semester is off to a strong start! The beginning of the year brings many choices, such as what classes to take, which events to attend, and which organizations to get involved in. Our time in college is limited, and as a result we must make decisions about how to best use our time.
I would like to encourage our members to go ahead and pre-register for the 2026 AMEA Professional Development Conference. The process is easy, and you can check it off your to-do list today! The link is here:
The Alabama Music Educators Association is excited to share…
During my travels as the Alabama State Teacher of the Year, I had the amazing opportunity to meet and form bonds with state Teachers of the Year (STOYs) from the other 49 states as well as some of our U.S. territories including Washington, D.C. We even met and became friends with international Teachers of the Year as we spent a week in Huntsville, Alabama learning about the American space program.
By now, we’re all back in the swing of things after an always-too-short summer break. Whether it’s the first steps of the marching band show or the first steps of putting an instrument together, there’s an excitement about the start of a new year. And while the responsibilities that exist within the walls of our band rooms are numerous, I want to encourage you to go “beyond the band room” as an educator and leader in your school.
