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.