Friday Ramblings

Hi everyone!!

Oh MAN what a crazy week it's been! (good crazy, lots of interesting things afoot!). My main priority right now is educating Congress (who are about to run away and hide for the holidays!!) about MENC and our arts in education friends' legislative recommendations for NCLB. It's really exciting work, because if we can get Congress to support these changes to the language during reauthorization, we could make a WORLD of difference for music educators and their students!! (THAT'S why we come to work :-)). In weeks to come, the Government Relations & Outreach Department will be conducting Hill visits to spread the word about our recommendations and foster relationships with members of Congress. It's always an adventure up on Capitol Hill, every office is completely different!

In other news, we're all getting very excited here at MENC for the upcoming holiday season! I personally LOVE everything between Halloween and New Years, my absolute favorite time of year! I was thrilled when I walked into Starbucks yesterday, and amazingly, it had been transformed into a holiday wonderland -- woohoo! I suppose no one will ever be able to accuse me of not enjoying life's simplest pleasures haha ;-) Or a good old fashioned Gingerbread Latte for that matter! (which by the way, is DEFINITELY the favorite bev of the average MENC employee!).

Oh, and as a final note: I am now keeping a guitar in my office. I can't play it, I'm embarrassed to say, but it makes me feel really cool to have it in here, and I'm hoping that it will somehow encourage me to learn!! (or at worst, send good "musical vibes" my way). If anyone has any suggestions for how I could quickly learn to play, please don't hesitate to share!!

Have a wonderful weekend music education lovers!!

And now... here are the Friday...

"Government Relations & Outreach Department Album Picks of the Week!!!"

SKJ: Various Artists - Dreaming Wide Awake: The Music of Scott Alan
HLS: Jack Johnson - On & On
CBLW: Sigur Ros - Hvarf-Heim

Thursday Interlude: Jump Aboard the Carousel

MENC Headquarters in Reston, VA is ringed by colorful trees.

Hi All,
If you are regular blog visitor (and if y0u aren't, where have you been? welcome aboard!) you may recall that a short time ago I was complaining about the lack of fall color around here. Well, here in Reston, we got a reminder that Mother Nature is in charge, a lesson in patience really. The foliage around here is really, really beautiful right now, drought or no drought.

We love the trees in the parking lot here.

One year in our pre-kid days, my husband and took a fall foliage tour of Vermont and New Hampshire. We joined a swarm of other leaf peepers in the White Mountains of New Hampshire and around Shelburne, Vermont, near the Canadian border. We visited the Shelburne Museum near Lake Champlain, a sprawling "museum" of some 39 buildings, many of them historic structures, that were relocated to the site. The museum is an eclectic gathering of folk art and Impressionist paintings, quilts and other textiles, vehicles and farm implements. And even covered bridges that were trucked to site once upon a time.

One of our favorite things was the 1920s vintage carousel near the entrance. Wonderful music and carved animals as you gracefully spun in circles.

I liked that almost as much as going to the Ben and Jerry corporate headquarters in Stowe, Vermont where I had my first ever taste of Cherry Garcia ice cream. Yum. What a cool factory tour if you are ever up that way. All in all, a good trip.


Now, I'm not saying that Reston is the same as Vermont, but the trees around here make for a beautiful commute into the office each morning.

And speaking of the office, this week I am working on the December online news as well as news January.

Doing the former gives me a chance to look back at what I did for December. Oh, wait, you haven't seen that issue yet. Hmm. If you promise not to tell anyone I will give you a sneak peak. Just between us, OK?

One of my favorite stories this month was about general music teacher Linda White, (shown at the Great Wall, below) teaches at Haycock Elementary School in Falls Church, VA. She is such a neat teacher. She writes MENC lesson plans for various projects. In October USA Today named her to the 2007 All-USA Teacher Team.

This past summer she took a trip to China as part of the Fulbright-Hays International Education Programs . The program motto is "The World is Our Classroom." She handed out CDs of her choral group performing and MENC's Liberty for All: Volume 2 Westward Expansion—Industrial Revolution to music educators she met on her trip.
White is writing a musical about dragons for her students at Haycock to perform. She says she is helping to educate "citizens of the world" in her classroom.

Here are a couple of photos she shared with us. You can see more photos and read her story in the December Teaching Music online news is posted at the end of November.

In my job, I get to talk to a lot of music teachers, which I truly enjoy because music teachers enjoy working with kids. My son is in high school now, but he attended the same elementary school from kindergarten through sixth grade and his music teacher was wonderful.

I remember the kindergarten play about farm animals when he played a pig and sang and oinked and fifth grade when the kids performed sophisticated madrigal music. She taught them to play recorders and read music. They also studied Renaissance history and American folk music

His music teacher was a wonderful and all of the kids just loved her, loved her energy, the way she worked with the kids, loved her plays. I wish every kid could have a music teacher like my son's or like Linda White.

Buh Bye Til next Thursday
RF

Midweek Meanderings and Miscellany XXXIV: Miscellaneous All Around!

What an interesting week already! (if you happen to like such things!) Call after call, email after email, with people seeking assistance! It's nice to feel needed! And I get to learn at the same time!

In two days, have had I'd say about 20 calls/emails/requests, seeking resources/help on:
assessment
funding (2)
special needs discrimination
vocal articles/resources
survey help (three students with their graduate studies!)
career info/music biz info
starting a string program (elem choral gm teacher)
Leonard Bernstein info (someone doing their dissertation on!)
classroom management
working with MENC
feedback on the Question of the Month survey
copyright
Sacred music
advocacy information
scheduling
sports/PE vs. music

Just because it's busy, and because time is short, will leave you with a few links to articles that caught my eye in my weekly perusal of various arts education/arts news sources, and a few things I ran across. Perhaps one or some of these may be of interest to your students as well.

Have a good week, and see you next week! SR


RESOURCES


Berklee College of Music Alumni Newsletter, BERKLEE TODAY: stories about musicians of all stripes, some who have become quite well known! Interesting articles about many things musical!


In one of the Berklee alumni newsletters, saw a link to jokes about musicians, check it out!


NPR: new music website! amazing stuff on there; Stephin Merritt, composer, given 48 hours to compose in a studio, and record it; what he came up with; jazz profiles, Thelonious Monk; Yo Yo Ma's top five favorite recordings; career information/interviews; Spanish guitar; African pop music; much more!

From October 31 news Culture Policy Newsletter from Americans for the Arts:
Senate Passes Arts Education Funding10-29-2007: The U.S. Senate has passed their FY2008 Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations bill by roll call vote, 75-19. This bill funds a large number of domestic programs including the Arts in Education programs at the U.S. Department of Education, the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB). The Senate bill provides $36.3 million for Arts Education compared to the $39 million level of the House bill


LEONARD BERNSTEIN: did you know he's in the MENC Hall of Fame?
Read about him at his official site HERE

ARTICLES
Child Composer Prodigy, and Joshua Bell

Itzhak Perlman interview

Iraqi Orchestra plays on

Comeback for older Prodigy

Gustavo Dudamel, the latest! (LA Philharmonic and El Sistema!) "Revelatory!"

Music Therapy

Election Day Tuesday

It's a chilly, windy, drizzly morning here in Reston, VA. (A former MENC blogger just e-mailed me to ask why it always seems to rain on election day, at least here in the East?) However, blue sky is peeking through the clouds as the morning goes on. Perfect November weather ... this is why this month is one of my favorites. Today I'm going to be working on recording and editing our next podcast, doing an annual review, having the Weekly Web Meeting, drafting a promotional letter for our national conference, analyzing the first responses from the online Web site focus group, etc. etc. etc. ... plus today is the day MENC has arranged for interested staff to get flu shots right here in the building. So let's move on straight way to another Famous Student Story!

MENC member Patti Dunham of Sea Cliff, NY writes:

"One of the things all music teachers hope for is that their students will find their dreams. We want to pass on what we’ve learned to help them pave their way. Nikki Blonsky, star of the feature film Hairspray, has fulfilled that dream for me.

"I am a singer and voice teacher from Sea Cliff. I owe everything to the public school music program. I came from private elementary school, where there was no music program. When I joined the Hicksville High School Chorus, I knew I had found a home. I was lucky enough to sing with Billy Joel, who sang bass and entertained us with his bands. He was also a great educator. He’d take us to the piano, assign notes and movie us up and down naming the chords – my first theory lesson.

"I earned a degree from Fredonia and pursued a career in music, touring with the Philip Glass Ensemble, Ensemble for Early Music, Midsummer Night’s Swing Big Band at Lincoln Center and as a chorister with the New York Philharmonic. I am now a teaching artist for the Tilles Center for the Arts School Partnership.

"Nikki Blonsky had a marvelous voice when she came to me at age 12. She always had the instrument of someone much older. We worked hard on both her pop and classical voice to maintain a healthy balance and never do any damage. A sound vocal technique is more important than ever with the difficult style young singers sometimes have to perform. Pop, Rock and Broadway demand a lot of “belting” which really has to be used judiciously.

"Nikki sang “Hero” for many firefighters after September 11. Her family always took her wherever she was needed to give comfort with her song. Dr. Levy from Great Neck South encouraged her to sing the roles of Mrs. Lovett in “Sweeney Todd” and “Carmen” in their High School productions.

"Nikki is a natural actress. When I saw her up on the screen in “Hairspray”, it was a surreal experience. I was so thrilled that someone who is so talented and hard working finally got what she deserved in such a tough field. She’s now filming her third movie.

"I was inspired by another local student from the Public School Music Program who passed it onto me. Now Nikki is an inspiration to every young singer. Follow your dream, work hard, and SING!"

Want to tell blog readers about your famous student(s)? We want to hear about scientists, mathematicians, humanitarians, authors, athletes, businesspeople, etc. as well as musicians! Send info to ElizabethL@menc.org.

In My World -- Harley RULES!

The NEB meeting (held in Milwaukee, WI) ran like a well-oiled machine with Harley and MENC President Brinckmeyer in charge. Harley acted as the NEB parlimentarian in his own planetarium and helped Madam President get through a very business-packed board agenda with many weighty issues. (Harley would like you to know his weight is just fine, thank you.) The Executive Committee/Finance Committee met Thursday evening over dinner and then recessed in order to meet and greet other board members as they came to the Milwaukee Hilton Hotel. President Brinckmeyer will be sending out her President's Message in a week or so to the MENC Leadership reviewing actions from the meeting. Although Harley would like to share these with you, he knows his place (at times) and defers to Madam President. Such a wise doggie he is..... The NEB met all day Friday, Saturday, and until 11:00 am on Sunday (November 4).
On Saturday evening the NEB met with movers and shakers of the Milwaukee Music Educators! It was fun to see Mike George (past North Central Division President and former WMEA executive director), Christine Hayes (past WMEA president and co-chair of local committee), Richard Mannisto (local committee co-chair), Barry Applewhite (Milwaukee Public Schools and local committee member), Ken Liske (WMEA president), Jon Gilliland (WMEA president-elect), and Will Schmid (past MENC national president).

After the meetings were done and all was said off everyone went to the Milwaukee Airport. AND who would have thought that we would meet up with the Colorado Music Educators Association President, Michelle Ewer who was visiting the area with her daughter to look at possible colleges! President Brinckmeyer and President Ewer had lunch in the airport with Harley, JJM, MB, and ML. What a great way to finish a good NEB Meeting. . . . So, always remember -- you never know who you are going to run into and where that might happen! When Michelle ran up to us in the airport we all knew we knew her from somewhere and then we said -- WOW - what are you doing in Milwaukee -- and of course she asked us the same question! Life is good.

So in my World -- When all is said and done - - the best thing to always remember is to make sure your computer is plugged in OR you have enough juice to keep on ticking! Or maybe it is just get on your hands and knees and pray! Yes, today, Harley Rules in my World! OH YES, on November 12, ML will be with MENC for 28 years - she is feeling old........ at least she can still get on her hands and knees. Thank God for Harley to do the fetching!

Crazy Friday

Hi all!!

Unfortunately, this is going to have to be short and... not terribly interesting. I'm headed downtown today for an afternoon of stimulating legislative meetings (which will be VERY interesting!!), so I'm about to run out the door! Very quickly though, I'd just like to say that...

MY FIRST MENC HALLOWEEN WAS AWESOME!!!

I feel SO lucky to get to work with such warm, caring, passionate people... who also know how to have a good time - and have an AMAZING collective sense of humor!! Thanks to everyone for making this year's Halloween at MENC an absolute blast (and MAN was the food to diiiiiiiiiiie for! muHAHAHAHA!). The costumes were hysterical, the pumpkins were awesome, and the fun and games were legendary. For a really terrific review of an MENC Halloween, please scroll down and read RF's most recent blog - it's great!!

Sorry gang, I'm afraid that's going to have to be all for today... enjoy your weekends (brr, it's getting chilly out there), and I'll try to blog in a more professional manner (does such a thing exist??) next week!

Til then, loyal music education supporters!!!

Thursday Interlude: We're Creepy and We're Kooky (And Cute)

Sadly, CW was a Child Left Behind.

So, yesterday afternoon I was walking down to the first floor to attend a meeting to discuss my news stories for January Music Educators Journal. I passed our Sun Room meeting space where many an important strategy session takes place. Inside Posh Spice, a kind of demented jester, and a bloody accident victim, talked with their boss, who was decked out in ghostly necklace in celebration of, you guessed it, her birthday.

HS and CW (along with SKJ and other staffers) organized the Halloween festivities, which included a "Dead Musicians" Trivia Contest at the potluck luncheon.

Wednesday was just another Halloween at MENC, where a bunch of creative people dressed as witches and bananas and gangsters spent the day working on member business. but also carved out a bit of time for bountiful potluck staff luncheon. Your truly took photos but also reviewed December Teaching Music pages and looked ahead to the January journal.


On October 20 I celebrated my fourth year at MENC, so obviously I started work here just days before my first staff Halloween. I quickly learned that Halloween is a very big deal here MENC. Why? Um, I am still not sure. I mean we celebrate the December holidays, too, decorating for Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa, but Halloween, I dunno, seems to let everyone be kids again. (See some of the entries in the pumpkin-carving contest, above). And as I said, I work with some very creative people.

Before the festivities got underway, ML laid down the law.

The big highlight of the day was the Halloween social, which also included a costume contest and an amazing spread of staff-produced food. Spiced peanut butter chick peas, homemade pizza, curried chicken, veggie pizza, baked beans, , fruit salads, mac and cheese, and chocolate-dipped pretzels with cashews and almonds for fingernails served in containers decorated with shirt sleeves. JG made the latter and they were very cute. I made what has become my singnature Halloween potluck dish, that involves wrapping crescent rolls around a hot dog and a slice of cheese. I use beef hot dogs so I call it cows in a blanket, though my son points out that cows wouldn't fit in a blanket. Oh to be 14, and know everything there is to know in the world. But I digress.

Here at MENC, not everyone dresses up. Some people spend a lot of time thinking up their costumes. Other people throw them together the night before or the morning of. In any case, the ingenuity is fun to see, as you will see from my attempt at photos throughout.

For example, KR, shown below, decided to spend the day as Harry Potter character Luna

Lovegood (We have a Harry Potter clan here at MENC, in case I hadn't mentioned that earlier) She made radish earrings, baking them at home according to a jewelery-making recipe she found online. Apparently there are a lot of LL fans out there in cyberspace.

Anyway, today things are back normal here in Reston. Now it's on to Thanksgiving! And you know the rest. Just wanted to share a few more staff photos with you. How was your Halloween?

Golfing buddies, SM and DP struck
a dashing pose in MENC lobby.

MJ, SF and SA won first place
for their "Grey's Anatomy"
skit.

CW, our resident Snow White was kind and posed
with TH (just kidding, TH, we love you!)



Oh, nurse. You never know who JH
will be.



Posh Spice was in the building.
MB swears Becks was around, but he
scampered away.

The embroidery on MM's outfit was beautiful.

Ha, Ha. Was JW frightenting or funny? Both?

Normally when NS carries a violin case, it has a violin inside.


Wherever there is a group of pretty ladies, you will find TH,
who poses with KR, AD and LE.

I guess JW as the jester wasn't too scary since Cinderalla (PS)
and her daughter, L were willing to pose with him.

And scene
Til Next Thursday. Happy November
RF