Chapter of the year that is, at the state and the national level! It’s been a little while since I’ve had to time to write much here, largely because I’ve been so engaged with my local chapter of the Music Teachers National Association, the one and only Seattle Music Teacher’s Association.
As more or less my last action as SMTA President I took the time to cobble together a document that captured the way we interact with our members, their students, the broader organization, and of course the larger community in which all the rest resides. With that document in hand we submitted ourselves for consideration at the state level, and when we emerged victorious that same document was turned towards national consideration, which we swept once again. Very exciting stuff!
If it doesn’t go without saying, the meat of our victory is what *we* do as a collective of dedicated, talented teachers from many walks of life, but it’s always fun to have an instrumental hand in conveying that to strangers, or more distant friendships to put it another way. I really couldn’t be prouder of the time I’ve spent learning from and working with such an incredible group of musicians and teachers, and the impact it’s had on my teaching is immeasurably positive.
With that in mind I’ve attached a newsletter I’ve just finished that details some of my experience at the latest national conference in Minneapolis, wherein we actually received said award. Otherwise I’m finding my comfort with the immediate past president role as I begin to look forward to taking over as a district director for Washington State, and the opportunity to meet and learn from even more amazing people.
Have fun making music, it’s about the coolest thing we’ve ever done (next to math anyway), and I’ll do my best to share more of my activities along the way!
Ryan
