This Could Be The Start Of Something Good

Happy crazy Friday music education lovers!! Man, what a busy week it's been here at MENC!

With so many new and exciting music education advocacy ideas in the works, it's really going to be an awesome next few months here at MENC for the Government Relations & Outreach Department!! (just you wait and seeeeeee!) All of these great new music education advocacy and government relations projects got me to thinking though... maybe it would be fun to share with you all, the "Inside MENC" readers, a few of MENC's most recent "advocacy idea outtakes." After all, it's not just every music education promotional strategy that can end up being a certified winner--and so, there's always bound to be at least a few castoffs by the end of every brainstorming session.

So with that in mind...

Here are the "Top 10 MENC Music Education Advocacy Idea Rejects!"

(10.) Invite some friends over for a dinner party, then proceed to serenade them over the course of the entire evening about the endless wonders of providing children with quality music education programs (refuse to be interrupted for any reason whatsoever).

(9.) Dress up as a giant music note and wear your costume to work every day. Music teachers might catch a break for this sort of behavior, but good luck explaining your actions if you work in practically any other job (and if you do, as you're being reprimanded by your boss, use it as an opportunity to discuss the inherent value in offering music education in our schools).

(8.) Offer free concerts in your front lawn featuring your children and pets performing for anyone who will listen. Take requests from the mailman, dog walker, pool boy, etc. Don't be shy.

(7.) Change your car's horn to The Rolling Stones' "Start Me Up."

(6.) Stage a barbershop quartet sing-a-long in your child's principal's office. Sing loudly and proudly about music education. Display no shame for having adorned your candy striper style pants.

(5.) Next time you stop by a fast food restaurant for lunch, sing your order into the loudspeaker at the top of your lungs. "Laaaaaaaaaaarge fry and some funding for music ed-U-caaAAaaAAaation!, YEAH!"

(4.) Dress up as your child's music teacher for Halloween. It's not creepy. I promise. Wait, yes it is.

(3.) Insist to your neighbors and friends that the "The Music Man" was originally written about an amazing elementary or secondary school level music teacher. Appear angry and agitated when people disagree. Don't back down.

(2.) Any time someone turns a radio on, stand up, throw your arms into the air, and claim to be orchestrating the music. Insist that you're capable of performing this feat on the fly thanks for to having such an amazing music education as a child.

And the number one MENC Music Education Advocacy Idea Reject...

...which actually has nothing to do with the list at all but is something that we really DO want you to do...

(1.) Visit us here at MENC! We love music educators and we're just as in love with music education as you are!! We'll all make great friends :-)

Ta da!

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

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

SKJ: Went home sick. Feel better!!
HLS: Queen - Greatest Hits
CBLW: Eisley - Combinations

Thursday Interlude: Concert Ties that Bind

In December 2003, members of the 81st Amour Division in Fort Knox, Kentucky, filmed a segment for the MENC's World's Largest Concert® with the Scott Middle School Chorus at the Patton Museum in Fort Knox.

Photos by Mike Johnson and Tommy Hill

Hi y'all,
Last week I got an email from Maryanna Jones, a music teacher from Kentucky and on Tuesday we talked. Great conversation. Who, you may ask, is Maryanna Jones? I guess I am getting ahead of myself.

In my job as managing editor for news, I interview a lot of music teachers. Band directors, choral directors, general music teachers, string teachers, college professors. And believe it or not, I remember most of the people I have talked to for stories. I find music teachers to be creative, passionate folks who like kids and like what they are doing, so the interviews are often like easy-going conversations than rigid question and answer sessions.

There is one particular interview that really sticks in my mind, though. In December, 2003 I had only been working at MENC a couple of months and I was working on a story list for an upcoming issue.

The 20th anniversary of the World's Largest Concert was coming up in March 2004 and I got the idea to talk with a music teacher who had performed the concert for many of those years. Project manager AL gave me the name of a teacher and I called her.

Who I got for the interview was Maryanna Jones, an MENC member who teaches at a Department of Defense school in Fort Knox, Kentucky. Here is an excerpt from my story, which appeared in the March, 2004 issue of Music Educators Journal.

Sing, Sing a Song: WLC Celebrates 20 Years of Fun

MENC member Maryanna T. Jones, who teaches general music and choral music to students at both schools, also celebrates an anniversary with the airing of this year’s concert. This is Jones’ 20th consecutive year directing students in the WLC. She began her WLC involvement as a member of the European Music Educators Association (EMEA) and a teacher at a Department of Defense school in Germany. Participating over the years has been a moving experience for her as well as her students.

“The WLC is one of the most magnificent things we have ever done. I still keep in contact with many of my former students, and they have told me how much they remember the concert,” Jones said. “Oh, the power of music and the way it connects our lives. It is all about the kids and what the WLC has done for them over the past 20 years. Thank you MENC!”

More than 20 of Jones’ students e-mailed MENC to discuss how much they enjoy participating in the concert.

Maryanna's students posed with soldiers from the 81 Armor Division during the WLC taping in 2003.

“The World’s Largest Concert is a blast every year. I am glad we have the privilege to be in the World’s Largest Concert. It is something to look forward to,” wrote Brittany Barnes, an eighth grader.

Arielle Bland, another eighth grader, wrote, “It’s kind of fun to know you are singing the same songs other kids are singing the same day.”

Walker Intermediate Principal David Reed said that he appreciates all the effort Jones and her students put into the WLC, but he said he is equally impressed with the way she incorporates other subjects, such as Kentucky history, into her music classes.
And he emphasizes that the WLC is not just a music department effort at his school. “Our entire staff gets involved. Everyone works to make the concert happen,” Reed said.

At Scott Middle School, Principal Julio Gonzalez also says Jones plays a part in unifying students of all backgrounds. Among singers in the WLC segment are six severely handicapped students from the life skills class. Jones’ students acted as mentors for the students, some of whom are autistic or have brain damage. He added, “The WLC has been a uniting force not only for our school community but also for our military children and their families wherever they may be.”

For Private First Class Earl Gilhouse, the words of the song and the days with the kids really had special meaning. A few hours after the concert taping, he shipped out to Iraq for at least six months.“I have a family back home in Las Vegas, and thinking about them, it makes me sad to leave, but participating in [the WLC] reminds me of what I am going to defend,” he said in a telephone interview before heading overseas. “I wish I’d had a program like this back in my school.”

I remember so well the interview I did with Gilhouse, too. Maryanna called me during the taping and asked if I would like to a couple of the soldiers who participated at the museum. A moment later a deep voice came on the phone and we chatted for a few minutes. I remember trying to keep my composure and the enormity of what he was about to do sunk in. He was leaving for Iraq. That day. And he and his fellow soldiers took the time out to sing with kids. Took the time to talk to me. I was so moved, but remember thanking him for helping with taping, and also for his military service.

When Maryanna and I spoke this week she told me how happy she is that the WLC is coming back in March 2008. She is teaching high school and middle school now and looking forward to having her students participate. She inquired about the music for the concert, which will be on Thursday, March 13, 2008 . If you want WLC info, too, stay tuned to the WLC Web site where more details about the WLC will be published in the coming weeks.

Hal Leonard Corporation is supporting MENC and the WLC by providing sheet music and audio tracks for use with the WLC DVD.

In a statement, MENC President Lynn Brinckmeyer explained the return of the WLC recently:
“Thank you to all of the dedicated teachers and state leaders who voiced their desire to bring back the World’s Largest Concert. We are also grateful to the members of the MIOSM/World's Largest Concert Task Force."

“Thanks to their thorough research and review, the National Executive Board was given recommendations for a revised WLC. Once again MENC members and their students will have the unique opportunity to participate in music-making with other students across the nation,” Brinckmeyer added.

There is definitely an ebb and flow to my work, as October Teaching Music heads to the printer, I am beginning work on the November issue of Music Educators Journal. I have a story meeting tomorrow to discuss the news for that issue.

I will leave you with an aside. This morning our department, Member Marketing, hosted the August social where we celebrated the monthly birthday and anniversaries. It was a fun respite, but a lot of people have meetings today so it somewhat brief.
I made the cake you see below for the social.



It is a lemon blueberry pound cake with a powdered sugar/lemon juice glaze, a recipe I found in Cooking Light magazine in 1998. Since that time I have made it for bake sales, brunches and summertime cookouts. I must say that it works as with frozen blueberries as fresh ones, so don't be afraid to try any time of the year. Here is the link for the recipe. Let me know what you think. I may make another one for my Labor Day Block party.

Here in Fairfax County, VA, school starts next week. And my son Matt starts high school. Yea! Have a great Labor Day holiday.
RF

Midweek Meanderings and Miscellany XXIV: End of Summer

Alas, we approach the end of summer, days of long light, greenery, fresh sweet fruit, empty highways and back streets, no coats or boots, and a more relaxed pace, when possibilities of "free time" seemed unlimited! Time to start keeping on schedule, remembering where you stashed your cold weather clothes, and thinking ahead to the busy fall/winter holiday season!

As a short sweet farewell to summer, here are the responses from 636 MENC members who responded to MENC's August Question of the Month question, asking: What did you do this summer?
68% traveled
66% read!
63% hung out with family/friends/kids
55% prepared for next year's teaching
54% practiced music for myself (for fun, to keep up chops, to learn new music for self, etc.)
53% performed music for fun/volunteer
44% worked in the yard/garden/outdoors
43% exercised more
43% veged out
35% performed music for pay/work
33% taught music for pay
32% outdoor pursuits (hiking, boating, fishing, sailing, biking, swimming, etc.)
32% took classes/courses/workshops for professional development credit towards teaching/music education
22% took classes/workshops for enhancing my music/teaching skills, but not necessarily for credit
18% OTHER
13% taught music voluntarily
12% participated as actor/singer, instrumentalist, director, conductor, or behind the scenes in community, children's, or professional theater
10% took classes for my own personal interest or development, not music ed related
10% worked for pay at a non-music job
7% volunteered at a non-music job
5% learned a new hobby/skill
5 % got married or other life/family event

We'll be posting the responses to the remaining QOM responses for August on the MENC website soon! Those responses answered these questions:
What will be your biggest challenge this coming school year? What do you hope/think will be the best thing about the new school year? Any new or on-going goals you're hoping to meet with your music classes?

We also asked respondents to list top musicians/ensembles they'd recommend music students LISTEN to, regarding a particular instrument (voice included), technique or quality, or piece of music, as an example of "this is what we're trying to teach you", "this is a great example of what it's all about!". We'll post that listening list as well!

In the meanwhile, please read about how scientists believe PERFECT PITCH now is attributed to ONE gene!

And, about Music in New Orleans:
Tough Times for New Orleans Musicians
New Orleans Music Scene after Katrina, two years later

Happy Labor Day weekend and GOOD WISHES for the school year!
See you next week! SR

Harley will make it home in time...in my world

Although this is being written on Friday, I confess, it will be posted on Monday while I am off for a week of "vacation." I heard via OWL that Harley is on his way home. He sent me a cute photo of him all strapped in and waiting for lift off. Who knows with air travel these days - it could take him a while to get home. Train may be quicker.

All is well at MENC this week. I did get most of my work done. However I may have to run in on Monday. You see...... we need to make a decision about our health care provider and we have reviewed rates which are up as they are all over. Also this week there will be a Directors Meeting that I will be missing. The NEB gave the "go ahead" to Dr. M to move ahead with plans for a Business Development Department. If you remember in the blogs employees were talking about the "move" around the offices - Pubs when downstairs, Conventions moved to our floor (2nd), and then there was some rearranging of the third floor. EH, who is Assistant Executive Director-Project Development, will be discussing the role of our newest MENC department which he is heading. He and several other staff moved to the second floor where Pubs use to be. One of the goals (I assume) of the Business Development Department and its five employees will be to look for corporate sponsorship. MENC was successful in The National Anthem Project in garnering corporate support. Should be an exciting year ahead for us.
As I noted last week in my blog, Harley and I are going to be doing several things on my week off such as get a hair cut, get a massage, play tennis, clean craft room (UGGGGGGGG - I know Harley will run out on me and hide), play tennis, create art, yada yada. You stay cool and I will try to do the same. See you in September!

Espresso (All Jacked Up)

Hello, and happy gloomy slash sunny Friday to all!

Today, I have a question that I'd like to pose to the loyal "Inside MENC" readership. Let me ask: do any of you ever have those moments when you just start to randomly pontificate on some minute life detail for no apparent reason at all? Like perhaps one of those strange instances when you simply choose a word in the English language and proceed to say it over and over and over again aloud until it begins to sound like nothing more than garbled gibberish?

The.

The.

The.

The.

T. h. e.

The.

The.

The.

THE.

The.

Ahhhhhhh!!! What does that word even MEEEAN?!?!

Weird.

Well, anyways, that exact thing happened to me this morning as I was exiting MENC's closest Reston Starbucks location with my daily hit of morning euphoria in hand (aka: a Grande Raspberry Mocha Latte--yum!). In order to better set the scene, let me try to elaborate on the series of events that preceded said meaningless philosophical moment:

So I had just received my hot, delicious, steamy, caffeinated beverage from a kindly, yet waaaaaaay too cheery barista, and was headed for the door, when out of the corner of my eye what did I see, but a kindly, middle-aged gentleman holding a delicious bev. of his very own (Tall Cinnamon Dolce Latte with Sugar Free Syrup--I heard him order) quickly approaching the vicinity of the exit himself, from the opposite side of the restaurant.

This, is when all of the hullabaloo began.

"Uh oh," I thought. "We're both going to reach the door at the exact. same. time!" Instantly, a minor bout of panic came over me. I hate scenarios in which two people are forced to realize that they're both going to arrive at a precise location at literally the same moment, and hence, someone will need to take the lead while the other falls behind.

You just can't both go through the door at the exact same time. It's a matter of simple physics. It just won't work.

So there we were.

Face to face.

Decision time for me and Mr. Tall Cinnamon Dolce Latte with Sugar Free Syrup.

Two early bird coffee addicts starring down the barrel of life's cruel sociological fun house-shotgun.

What to do... What to do...

I fell behind.

It's no big deal or anything, so whatever.

But that, is not the end of this sorted tale...

On to phase two!

The door holding.

Sigh.

As I mentioned earlier, Mr. Tall Cinnamon Dolce Latte with Sugar Free Syrup is nothing if not a gentleman (see, I don't just loosely throw that word around without having a good reason for using it), and so, he politely offered to hold the door for me. "Thank you," I said, and quickly walked through it. Now here's where the real fun began:

A SECOND DOOR.

Ooooooooooohh how I loathe the implied double door holding Starbucks exiting second "thank you--have a nice day!"-follow-up remark.

At this point, you all probably know where the story is headed: Mr. Tall Cinnamon Dolce Latte with Sugar Free Syrup proceeds to hold the door for me... again, and I, in turn, proceed to thank him... again (actually, to be fair, I offered a, "thanks--have a nice day!", the second time, but same diff.).

Ugh.

Awwwwwwwwkward! I'd already thanked him!!

He knew it.

I knew it.

All of the baristas knew it.

Painful.

Society shouldn't have to function like this.

So I got to thinking... (enter my previously mentioned moment of philosophical nonsense...)

I believe that a person should have several response options from which to choose under such circumstances:

(1.) "Thank you--have a nice day!" (The dreaded implied double door holding Starbucks exiting follow-up to your previous "thank you"-remark, largely considered to be standard practice in most areas of the world--unpleasant, yet effective)

(2.) "I can see that you're about to hold the door for me twice and I'd like to thank you beforehand for both of those actions prior to your actual performing of them." (A novel approach--courteous, yet efficient)

And now... for my own personal favorite...

(3.) The double head-bob. Risky business, yes (it's possible that the door holder won't actually catch on to the fact that you're thanking them without using any spoken words), but when properly executed, I truly believe that this third, considerably unheralded alternative may be the best remaining solution to humankind's implied double door holding Starbucks exiting second "thank you--have a nice day!"-follow-up remarking troubles.

Food for thought.

In other news, all remains well here at MENC. The August edition of the legislative memo will be e-mailed to subscribers next week (if you haven't done so already, subscribe!!) with some interesting new features; we continue to work with our partners in the arts community to prepare for the upcoming reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act (we have some really exciting potential changes in store for the legislation!), and the Government Relations & Outreach Department anticipates many new and exciting music education advocacy opportunities for our members over the weeks and months to come, so stay tuned!

That's all from the Commonwealth for this week!

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

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

SKJ: Tim McGraw - Let It Go
HLS: Jamie Cullum - Catching Tales
CBLW: The Format - Dog Problems (going to the concert this weekend for my birthday! WOOHOO!!)

Thursday Interlude:

Hey All,
Wait, can you hear that? It is the sound of me shivering. Like EWL I am grateful for the rain we had this week. Everything is green again. except for the trees around here that have suddenly decided to begin changing color. But it has been really really chilly this week,too. Brr.

I am somewhat grateful, for the cool, rainy weather, though, because my son Matt started freshman football practice this week. I had pictured 100 degrees and humid, but he and the freshmen on the team have had it easy. Well, weather wise. The drills have been pretty intense. Matt loves it, though.

A couple of days this week I had to go to the high school for meetings and I was kind of amazed that a full three weeks before school starts, there were kids everywhere. I walked past the band room (windows open) and the flutes and trombones appeared engaged in a music tug of war. In a hallway, I heard the boom, boom, boom of the base drums which rattled the aforementioned windows.

There were kids playing volleyball in the gym, kids playing tennis on tennis court, cheerleaders hurling themselves into the air and the dance team working on some saucy moves. Homework and lectures are to come but I saw a bunch of kids who seemed happy to be back at school, which is great.

At the parents' meeting, I was very happy to hear the athletic director tell the parents to keep reminding their kids that they are student athletes not athlete students, which is a message my husband and I deliver a lot at home. Actually, Matt says, says he is looking forward to classes. (Nearly finished with the reading assignments).

I am really looking forward to football season. Go Hornets! I love football anyway (Big K.C. Chiefs fan, love the Redskins, too and around our house lots of college football on the tube in the fall) but there is something about high school football.

Takes me back to my marching band days. It was so much fun playing in the stands and taking the field at halftime.

I went to a few games last year when Matt was still in middle school (I was allowed to drop him off with friends and then I had to find fellow geezer to sit with).

Matt's games will be on Thursdays, but the varsity games on Fridays are fun because of the band. The band at Matt's school is really good and I enjoyed the halftime shows as much as the football. I will pass along some halftime photos once the season starts. I have some friends whose kids are in band and they are rabid, rabid band boosters.

Well, back to my day job. I am finishing up October Teaching Music pages today. Lots of good stuff in the news this issue. A date book with important music education events over the next year, the complete text of MENC's Centennial Declaration, a story about a study that links quality music education and test scores, and a new MENC/Rowman & Littlefield Education book by music teacher Susan Haugland called Crowd Control: Classroom Management and Effective Teaching for Chorus, Band, and Orchestra
I had a great interview with Susan, who is very witty and the book reflects that.


Oh, and by the way (not confusing you, am I?) you can also see the online version of the September right here Music Educators Journal news .

If your school year has begun, hope things are going well. If not, good luck on the preparations.
Til Next Thursday,
RF

Midweek Meanderings and Miscellany XXIII: Fall's a Comin'!

As EWL wrote in her blog yesterday, Tuesday WAS gloomy (so is today!), but we DID need the rain! But when the rains come this late in summer, and it's this dark and murky, I can't help but think that fall is just around the corner. Of course! It's only a month away, officially, and school is starting, the crickets are chirping, the daylight is noticeably shorter, and even the leaves are changing colors to yellows and rusts....the gloom and drizzle just add to the atmosphere. It'll be Halloween before you know it!*** (and sure, the stores won't let you forget as they've already got the Halloween candy out!! I'm sure we'll see Thanksgiving and Christmas goods in the stores come October 1, if not sooner! Talk about RUSHING the last quarter of the year - or, as you teachers see it, your first semester!). Anyway, I look forward to the short season of blue skies and less humidity that we will hopefully soon have in DC as the autumnal equinox draws near.....

(***well, since we're talking gloomy, dark, rain and Halloween - watch this blog come October for what I'm sure will be thrills and chills as the Executive and Government departments of MENC put on the annual MENC Halloween Social (Potluck meal, costumes, pumpkin carving contest, candy jar counting contest, and other assorted demented activities!) And yes, we do get work done on that day, we just look a little strange while we do it. Staff take this opportunity SERIOUSLY to dress up (or down, as the case may be) to allow their alter egos to shine through. We've had BIRDMAN, SLASHER in the white mask or whatever his name is, Snow White and the Evil Witch, Mike Wikowski (Eyeball guy) from Monsters Inc., an Angel floating on a cloud (cloud included in costume), a replica of the Statue of Liberty (green face paint to boot), any number of witches, ghouls, biker chicks, punk rockers, Harry Potter characters, and even a gal dressed to the nines as Mozart! (we even had someone dressed as a "Cereal " Killer (festooned w/ ripped boxes of cereal all over her tunic!). Stay tuned for some great photo ops and tales!)

A music teacher came to visit yesterday, she's a part timer in a private school, looking to go full time in the public schools. She browsed through the MENC books in the lobby, and we talked about info she could use/need, as she pursued the transition and continued to teach at her private school. It was nice to have a face to face "request" meeting for a change, as most of the requests for help and info I receive come via the phone or email. As much as MENC is about music teachers, the one thing noticeably absent physically in these offices are the TEACHERS!! (although I take that back! Many of the staff here either were former music teachers, or musicians....and many still are practicing musicians, some at the professional level!) I still think it'd be VERY COOL if we could employ on staff, in rotating semester shifts, (or full years, if they were retired), former music teachers to take the info/help calls from music teachers "out there", and to provide on - call help and feedback and resource referral. We could have satellite offices to cover the different time zones of the country, so teachers in Hawaii would have the same access as teachers from New York!). How's THAT for dreaming? Well, maybe one day. In the meantime, we do have the MENC MENTORS on the on-line discussion forums - have a look! (also, many states have mentor programs for music teachers, write info@menc.org for more info!)

I could bore you with more details re: the survey results I'm working on, or regale you with tales of the requests coming in, or other longer term projects on the horizon, but will spare you and leave you with a few jazz related resources.

JAZZ 101 courtesy of DOWNBEAT magazine

JAZZ For Young People

JAZZ for Young People: What is New Orleans Jazz? (I saw this on PBS over the weekend, awesome!)

JAZZ at Lincoln Center

MARIAN MCPARTLAND, one of the first jazz musicians I grew to love, is being inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame this year. To quote the PBS site for McPartland's 25 year old radio show, "Piano Jazz": "She is deeply committed to music education in the country's public schools and was inducted in the International Association of Jazz Education Hall of Fame in 1986". "For more than 25 years, jazz pianist Marian McPartland and her guests have teamed up for an hour of weekly jazz sessions. Whether it's solos, collaboration, reminiscences, or straight talk about influences and style, no two Piano Jazz sessions are ever the same. " This is truly a good show!

GOOD LUCK with the new school year, all you returning teachers! Let us know if we can be of assistance! SEE YOU NEXT WEEK! SR