It's Friday!

Hello all!

I type this from my hotel room in sunny Orlando, Florida from MENC's Centennial Congress. Actually, the Centennial Congress and subsequent National Assembly meeting wrapped up last night (Thursday) with a tremendous gala dessert at Epcot Center. It was french-themed and we had a french musical ensemble complete with a french musical ensemble as well as a mime. I have to say the mime was one of the best mimes I've seen and he was also hilarious!! I hope to post some pictures either later today or first thing next week (imagine white pancake make-up, black and white striped shirt, red beret and you're there).

The dessert wrapped up two days of intensive National Assembly meetings where state leaders used a variety of technology as well as a lot of discussion to talk about MENC's draft strategic plan. It was very busy time and yesterday the busiest of all as we worked to get everything taken care of for the last day.

I have to give a shoutout to MENC's Director of Conventions, MJ. MJ did a fantastic job coordinating this four day meeting and is truly impressive under pressure. When problems arose these past four days (because they always do in event planning) she swiftly and calmly dealt with them. She also has a fantastic ability when working with the conference center staff to be calm even in the face of errors and issues. And thank you to my fellow MENC staff at the convention EWL, ML, MB, and JJM -- we make a great team and thank you all for your help and great attitude this week!

I also want to thank the Disney staff for their impeccable service. They were so nice and helpful at every turn and really just jumped in to help including looking for lost items, helping make ballot boxes, carrying heavy items, procuring drinks when we couldn't leave the desk and so much more! Thank you Tim, Ross, Wallington, Eddie, Lionel, Nick, William, and all those whose names I've forgotten because it's 7:21 am!!

And of course the biggest thank you goes to all of the MENC members that made this such a great week--from MENC President Lynn Brinckmeyer and all of the members of the National Executive Board to each and every member who spent time, energy, and money to come give their input on the direction of the association. Thank you!!!

Must dash -- we have a plane to catch!

Around the water cooler: We actually did have a water cooler in our storage/staging room this week! And sitting around it were lots of boxes because we certainly weren't!! hahaha!

Thursday Interlude:The Bands Played On

National Anthem Project Singers and Drum Corp International Ensembles rehearse in Annapolis for the Grand Finale of the Project, "DCI Salutes America" on June 16 in Annapolis, Maryland.

Hi From Hazy, Hot and Humid Reston:


Not that I am complaining or anything. I grew up with the three H's in Kansas City, Missouri, so moving to the DC area a little over 20 years ago, was not a huge shock. Earlier in the week, it was beautiful, warm and sunny with low humidity. I was surprised as how often I was able to drive around without my air conditioning on (Yes, I feel guilty about global warming and am trying to reduce my carbon footprint, a phrase that I admit is relatively new to my vocabulary.)

Then came Tuesday and it was sticky. I am talking sticky—hair drooping, energy-sapping sticky, so I succumbed to the AC. Last night when I picked up my son Matt from baseball practice it was humid and in the low 90’s even at 7 PM. As he walked toward the car, dragging his equipment bag, he looked as if someone had dumped a bucket of water on his head. No such luck I discovered after he stowed his stuff in the back of my mini van and I got a whiff of him as he climbed into the car. He and his teammates are getting ready for their last tournament of the season in late July, so they are drinking lots of fluids and practicing in the early evening when it is (a little) less muggy.

It sounds sticky in Orlando, too, but I am happy things are going well at the Centennial Congress (see EWL's report two posts below). As one holding down the fort in the aforementioned hot and humid Reston, I was able to watch some of the Webcast Tuesday and it was fascinating. (See SR's report below).

I finished the August Teaching Music news pages late last week and as I look at spread of the pages on the wall opposite my desk, I am pleased with the results.

There are so many good photos and good stories about the great teachers and students I met in the past month, on the telephone and in person. If you were one of those fantastic members, thanks for talking to me. I can’t wait to see the printed, color version next month. Let me know what you think. My e-mail is rozf@menc.org.

My work this week includes preparing photos and stories from the National Anthem Project finale in Washington DC June 14–16 for the online version of my news. I will let you know when the updated version has been posted.

Oh, what the heck. I will share a few photos with you now, like the one at top of the page. On June 16, the three days of the National Anthem Project Grand Finale ended with a collaboration between MENC and Drum Corps International at Navy-Marine Corp Memorial Stadium in Annapolis. It is where the Mid-Shipmen of the U.S. Naval Academy play football and lacrosse, though not at same time.


I had never visited the beautiful, historical stadium, so that alone was really fun. MENC presented the National Anthem Project Road Show, complete with “Star-Spangled Banner” karaoke and the National Anthem Stage where singers won a medal for belting out the national anthem. We had soloists, school groups and whole families earn their medals. There lots of other activities and booths for the groups wandering through.

On that Saturday afternoon I split my time between the Road Show area and the field, where talented members of DCI ensembles played and the National Anthem Project finale attendees rehearsed for the opening ceremony. It was fun watching the rehearsal, which were energetic, but also well-organized. Music kids, you could tell, were great at following directions, even though there were hundreds of them on the field.


After a powerful version of "The Star-Spangled Banner," with the singers and drum ensembles performing together on the field, the young singers in red shirts settled in to the stands for the opening night of the DCI 2007 Summer Music Games Tour. The tour began that night in Annapolis and continues throughout the summer. The singers made a great audience, too, waving their yellow programs and cheering loudly for their favorites throughout the evening.

Over the next few weeks, more than 5,000 young people aged 14 to 22 will perform in stadiums across the United States, as part of a DCI tour that will end August 9 in Pasadena, California, in the Rose Bowl. DCI calls it "Marching Music's Major League."

The DCI ensembles that performed one dynamic routine after another on June 16 were: The Spirit from Jacksonville State University in Alabama; The Glassmen, Toledo, Ohio; The Carolina Crown, Fort Mill, SC; The Cadets, Allentown, PA; The Bluecoats, Canton, Ohio, and the Cavaliers, Rosemont, Ill. I got to take the photos from a deck atop the stadium, which was really cool. I loved watching the patterns the ensembles created and the music sounded great, too. I will have more photos in the aforementioned MENC online news.

In a close race , the Cavaliers, pictured below, won the Annapolis, competition, "DCI Salutes America." MENC President Lynn Brinckmeyer, MENC President-Elect Barbara Geer and MENC Executive Director John J. Mahlmann presented awards to the six ensembles on the field.


For more on the various ensembles, upcoming performances, and other DCI information, visit DCI
Well, that is about it for this week.

Hope your summer is going well, whatever you are doing. Something tells me, somewhere, somehow, music is involved.
Toodles,
RF

ps. Fav. webcast highlight!

This is ARN and thank you to Sue for a great recap of yesterday's webcast! I wanted to add my favorite Huckabee line ... "Music and the arts are weapons of mass instruction ... and these are weapons we've found!" Hahahaha!

Midweek Meanderings and Miscellany XV: It's all Local! Finally Funding for FRSS! and....No Water Cooler!!

Since we last wrote.......

MENC has been a ghost-town, of sorts! Since last Friday, with exec staff on their way to Florida, the level of "background hum" is considerably lower! (to say nothing of the parking lot being considerably emptier!).

We did have our summer social last Thursday, in honor of the solstice, courtesy of MENC's publications department, who showered us with watermelon, brownies, ice tea and music! Singing In the Good Old Summertime, the MENC Centennial Canon and the National Anthem!

Friday, EH showed us a DVD collage of media coverage from the National Anthem Finale - what great footage! MENC hopes to get it up on the MENC website soon for all to enjoy!

Tuesday 26th, MENC set up a live web link for staff here at the national office to watch/participate in the Keynote address at the Centennial Congress in Florida. We were able to watch and listen as former Governor of Arkansas, Mike Huckabee addressed the Congress regarding music ed advocacy...and Anne Bryant, Executive Director National School Boards Association, and Brenda Welburn, Executive Director, National Association of State Boards of Education added their thoughts about strategies for dealing with local and state school boards.

I share below a few points that stuck with me. Hopefully, there will be a transcript or some other summary of the talks soon available on the MENC website or news pages....

Huckabee talked about how music is a life skill, a life long skill, not something you learn in school and then forget; he listed three points to remember:

1. real change is deployed at the LOCAL level, not the federal, and that is where influence from the community supporting music should be directed. Huckabee says the battlefield for winning the "get music into every school at every grade level K - 12" is at the LOCAL and state level. Policy is driven at the state level, innovation is at the state level. So, we need to PUSH at the STATE (and district) level. Not so much at the Federal level.

2. "You only fund what you force" - that is, build a mandate into the law and that will force the issue, and the money should follow.....push the issue!

3. you only improve in the games in which you keep score - that is, find ways to keep score and build community pride in the program - score the value of the arts program - performances, assessments, show cases....show it makes a difference!

Huckabee talked about "Play it Again, Arkansas!" a program where the state ran a used instrument drive, asking folks to donate old instruments they might have sitting unused. Music vendors across the state volunteered to fix these unused instruments, and donors got a tax break. The repaired, donated instruments were then distributed to school band directors in Arkansas, and when Gov. Huckabee visited the Arkansas All State festival, the director told him that the student who was first chair in the All State band had, one and a half years prior, not even had an instrument, as his parents couldn't afford it - and now, he was All State first chair! Talk about making things happen!

He spoke of building a bi-partisan coalition, a bi-partisan team. NO ONE OWNS this issue! It's a UNIFYING issue!!

When asked how to get the governors and local government officials to listen - he said, governors are competitive; they watch each other and see what is working in other states; they like to win. So, find a way to push your governor, find someone who knows him/her, convince your governor and leaders by building a coalition in the community.... make it easy for them to WIN at this issue......make it easy for your governor, school board, or district personnel to sell the idea to those higher up.......figure out what the community cares about, and present your argument and a win/win solution the government official can take to his higher ups. HELP the school boards and superintendents, show them that if the kids succeed, THEY succeed. Show them that the KIDS are the constituents!

Finally, Huckabee gave an example of how to deal with community members who may say they don't have kids in the system, don't care, don't want to help, tired of paying taxes for education, etc........he said remind them that future of our country depends on the education kids get today....that the kid serving burgers or working at local shops are kids in school NOW, and WILL be the doctors, businesspeople, mechanics, you name it, workers of tomorrow. That your life may depend on these kids, and it's in your best interest to care about the type and quality of education they get. The better educated they are, the better YOUR future as a citizen in this town/country is. Services and skills will be accurate and high with a good education - of which music is a huge part!!

ANNE BRYANT of NSBA mentioned, among other things, that a year or so ago, she asked a Disney executive, who does Disney hire? And that executive told her, we don't hire the MBAs, the accountants, the IT people - we hire the musicians and artists, because we can always teach them the other skills.....in essence, they wanted creativity in their new hires.

Brenda and Anne were asked what forms of evidence are most persuasive for local boards? They answered that while data is certainly good, stats, etc., legislators also LOVE the stories, so don't leave out the stories!

OTHER ITEMS OF NOTE:
Finally, GOOD NEWS!! Quoting from the MENC June 2007 Legislative Newsletter:
"On June 7, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education (LHHS) passed the Fiscal Year 2008 (FY08) budget, and as part of this, they designated $2.2 million for the Fast Response Survey System (FRSS) which would allow enough money to perform the long-overdue FRSS in the arts, the last of which was done in 1999-2000" (see this link: http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/frss/publications/2002131/ ) and 1994 http://nces.ed.gov/pubs95/95082.pdf

"This significant success is a direct result of the intensive efforts by the arts education community, including MENC, over the past several years! "

I say YAHOO!! Boy, do we need stats and data on what's happening in the arts in our schools. This is GREAT NEWS!!!

CLICK HERE to register to get the MEMO

RESOURCES FOR PONDERING during summer days:

Musician Health
click to see the MENC Position paper on this topic

and read a short article (note: scroll ALL the way to the end of the page once it opens, article is at the end!) about hearing loss in musicians, and the program at the University of North Texas Center for Music and Medicine

NYTIMES Chamber music: is it dying?

ROCKERS ON TV by Steven Van Zandt

And see Little Steven's Underground Garage!

WATER COOLER
Did you know that MENC has, in fact, just ONE water cooler?! (bubbler, fountain!) for the three floors. I guess according to health codes, the ratio of staff to fountain is adequate. And it seems most non-work conversation actually goes on in the hallways, in the kitchens, between cubicles, and out in the lobby, rather than at the bubbler! Stay cool !

See you next week! SR

Reporting from Orlando

Wish you were here! We had an exciting first day at MENC's Centennial Congress. I wish I could tell you more about the substance of the event, but my co-workers (MJ and fellow bloggers ARN and ML) and I were kept very busy at registration most of the day as the attendees arrived. Today we're involved in the Webcast featuring Mike Huckabee, Anne Bryant, and Brenda Welburn, so we'll get a better idea of what's going on behind the confererence room doors.

I do know that folks are having a good time. One member raved to me about yesterday's address by music education historian Michael L. Mark, and apparently the discussion groups were productive and lively. Monday evening, we all celebrated MENC's birthday with an old-fashioned picnic -- hot dogs, hamburgers, ice cream bar, and birthday cake, along with barbershop quartete singing, jugglers and magicians. (Fortunately for me and my hair, the picnic was actually inside in the air conditioning. We do not do well in the Florida summer climate.)

So I learned at the picnic that I am no good at "Launch the Lobster." Dr. Mahlmann suggested I try this game, and I completely whiffed the target on the first attempt. Very embarrassing. Subsequent tries were not much more impressive. I think I was a little better than ARN at least. Board member Barbara Payne McLain revealed a previously-hidden talent for this game, putting the lobster in the pot two out of three tries.

It is a real treat to get to visit with so many long time and new MENC friends. As I approach my 16th anniversary as an MENC staff member, being here at our Centennial is a wonderful reminder of why I am so proud to work for music education. I'm in touch with members all the time via e-mail, but it's great to connect in person with all these folks who do such important work.

Here are some great pictures! More to come! - EWL

Working the registration desk

The women of the NEB

Selling Centennial items at the picnic!

Not from My World - but almost - Keokuk II

Today, as you can see, Harley and Dr. M - are working, like really, really hard, at the Centennial Celebration in Orlando, FL. SO, Harriet Mogge is filling in for us and submits this report about activities surrounding the Keokuk II Symposium and her participation representing the MENC staff.

I was invited to attend Keokuk II to represent the MENC Headquarters office. I accepted with glee, and then started figuring out my travel schedule. It was one of those “you can’t get there from here” puzzles! However, I was determined to get there from here! After all, anyone who could attend a MENC convention at only 3 months old could certainly manage to get from Reston to Keokuk!

And what was happening in Keokuk? It was a historical symposium to celebrate the 100th birthday of MSC—MSNC—MENC! Organized by the History Special Research Interest Group of the Society for Research in Music Education, one of several research groups within MENC, it honored those who met there 100 years ago out of love for music and teaching, and a desire to learn from each other. Guess what – MENC members still do that today!

The event started with a reception Thursday evening in Meyer’s Courtyard, a very old building with a wire cage elevator to take us up to a beautifully restored reception room. The mayor came and spoke to us, as did the executive director of the Visitors Bureau. Both had been involved in the planning for our meeting. We all enjoyed beverages and "goodies." It was a good mixer for people to meet -- there were some researchers from overseas joining us also.

Friday and Saturday were sessions one right after the other, like the SRIGS schedule at convention (but no poster sessions!). Lunch both days was catered in the lobby of the hotel -- delicious! We had lots of fun with sing-alongs at lunch, accompanied by a guitar and accordion. Unfortunately, Friday’s plaque dedication was inside since the weather didn't cooperate. However, Jere Humphrey of Arizona State University, History SRIG national chair and organizer of this Symposium, had a grad assistant with him who is a technical whiz. A few of us went to the special centennial plaque, installed at the corner of Blondeau and 4th Street, unveiled it, and shot video. They went for David Circle's power point computer and created a little "show." Not the way it was planned originally, but a fun presentation shown in our big meeting room at the time scheduled for the unveiling. It was a great success. The Keokuk High School Choir, directed by MENC member Daniel Proctor, sang two numbers – glorious!

That evening (Friday) we had our banquet, prepared by the same church congregation that hosted our founders in 1907. This was in their "new church" built after the original burned in 1963. They enjoyed the replay as much as we did! Then into their large, beautiful sanctuary with a gorgeous three manual organ in the rear balcony -- a local MENC member is their organist and she played prelude and postlude for the concert. We enjoyed the Clark County High School Jazz Ensemble from neighboring Kahoka, Missouri, the Southeastern Community College Chamber Choir from West Burlington, Iowa, and the wonderful New Horizons Quartet “Tempered Brass” from Iowa City. These four “elders” were fantastic! Music is indeed for all generations.

The Symposium ended with two general sessions late Saturday afternoon. First was “Perspectives on American Music Education—Past, Present and Future” with our national president Lynn Brinckmeyer, national immediate past president David Circle, and national president-elect Barbara Geer, along with “Mr. MENC History” Dr. Michael Mark. The final session was “Music Education in the United States: Views from the Outside.” Panelists were researchers from Reading, United Kingdom; Mannheim, Germany; Victoria, Australia; New Brunswick, Canada; and a Michigan educator who is a native of Ireland.

Some went over to Nauvoo, Illinois, for dinner that evening, but I did not since I had to leave very early Sunday morning. It was time to reverse my travel itinerary and get from Keokuk to Reston via car and two planes. Could I get there from here? I certainly could, and was privileged to do so. Thank you for the opportunity, MENC!

Harriet Morgan Mogge, Retired MENC Staff

I love rock 'n roll

Hello all!

I want to tell you all about yesterday. Yesterday was cool. And it was cool for a number of reasons.

Yesterday Steve Van Zandt came to talk with us about a possible collaboration with his foundation on a series of lesson plans on rock and roll. For those of you who might not know him, he is a brilliant musician most famously known for playing in Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band as well as from his work playing Silvio on the Sopranos.

Because it was about a potential collaboration, several department heads attended including EWL and myself. I have to say that I was quite impressed with the plan his team laid out. He'd already reached out to, and partnered with, Scholastic who are well-known in the education world for their quality materials. They also understand the need for standards-based information in doing these lessons so I'm hopeful we can all work together in the coming months as it seems these will be great tools for students and teachers alike! What a great meeting!

Steve also understands how he can help music education and his role in doing so. He is willing to come to Capitol Hill to talk about music education's importance and knows that Members will react well to him as a celebrity. He also wanted to know all about what's going on in music education policy and was very thoughtful about helping us further our agenda. Again, what a great meeting!

Plus, we had lunch catered in! What a great meeting!

And then when I got back to my desk I couldn't sit down because I was so excited about all of the good things for music education and educators. What a great meeting!

And a picture!!! What a great meeting! (sure there may have been a few other people in this picture besides Steve, EWL, and I...but I'll never tell!!)


Around the water cooler: LOVE So You Think You Can Dance...if you're not watching it...you should be! It's such a wonderful showcase of dance on mainstream television and you learn so much about the different dance styles.