NJMEA President-Elect - Meet the Candidate - Wayne Mallette

As a product of the New Jersey public schools, I had the fortune of being raised in a diverse neighborhood and being apart of a musical community that molded me into the music educator I am today. I still look back with fondness on my days in the Piscataway Township School Music Department. It was there I learned to perfect my musical craft and share it with the community I loved. My music teachers taught me the transformative power of music and helped foster my passion for music education. So when I became a music teacher, I was determined to do the same for my students.

As I continued to grow as an educator, I was mentored by veteran teachers in the field. I remember my first time helping out in the tabulation room at All-State Auditions. I was so nervous, but Kathy Spadafino and other choral music educators taught me the ropes and made me feel welcomed. Before I knew it, I was officially on the All-State Choral Procedures committee and found a community of passionate music educators I would continue to learn from.

Working on the All-State Choral Procedures committee has proved to be one of the highlights of my time with NJMEA. When I became All-State choral procedures committee chair, I had the honor of steering the new online audition process and making the process more welcoming to new teachers. This committee was also able to make our All-State experience less gender binary as we move into a more inclusive music performance model.

As CJMEA President, I have had the opportunity to help lead this organization through the COVID-19 pandemic. Although we cannot hold our regular Region performances, we've provided online Professional Development workshops for our membership. I was even privileged to lead a professional development roundtable discussion on creating Anti-Racist Music Classrooms.

As schools begin to return to in-person instruction, I believe that NJMEA will need to be an advocate for Music Education throughout the state of New Jersey. With possible budget cuts, NJMEA's presence throughout the state will be more necessary than ever. I hope to elevate NJMEA’s music education advocacy profile on the state and national level.

I also believe that we should not merely return to "normal" after schools reopen. For too long, some of our music classrooms have been places of exclusion and oppression for those who do not fit in the confines of our western musical pedagogy. NJMEA can and should be an organization that creates pathways for underrepresented minority music teachers and students. By focusing our convention and our professional development workshops on broadening the scope of music education, we can empower teachers to create more inclusionary music classrooms. I would also like to see NJMEA institute a Diversity and Inclusion chair that will focus exclusively on creating more pathways for more Black and Brown music educators and ways to diversify our All-State ensembles.

I believe that now is the time to act boldly and wholeheartedly embrace these endeavors. If given the honor of serving as President-Elect, I will embark on these endevors with hope in our future and a passion for the profession.