Central Coast Section Update

where our CMEA membership grows to a point where we have all of our educators, teaching at every grade level, involved in membership to create a powerful body that speaks in a unified voice to our representatives and state leadership not only in Sacramento, but in our local communities as well. We particularly need strength in numbers that engages a loud and steady voice of advocacy for music in our schools for us as a profession to move forward from this pandemic. Please encourage your friends and colleagues to engage in membership and advocacy for music in our schools, at every level. Encourage your local district to use their ESSR funds to support music programs and hold them accountable for providing music as a core subject during school, every day. We are all impacted by the aftermath of the pandemic, and it will take all of us engaging in overt-advocacy to move forward.

As I mentioned in my CBDA article earlier this spring, I hope we all take some time this coming year to check on each other and help others in our profession to navigate the challenges of picking up the pieces from the pandemic. Experienced teachers - we will need your wisdom, advice, and toughness to get through these challenging times. Younger teachers - while this coming year will be different and challenging, you can be successful in this environment. We all have a unique opportunity to have a tremendous impact on our students, and we should embrace new ideas and experiences that can positively impact our students to make them better musicians and humans.

Central

Central Coast Section Update

by Diane Gehling

Looking back to move forward.

The 2020-2021 school year is now in the books and it was one for the books. If anyone told me that I would be teaching music through a computer I would have laughed and told them that it was impossible. But it was possible and we all did it.

This past year has presented us with a plethora of unique opportunities. As ensemble based classes, we take for granted that our students will be with us each day so that we can guide them, nurture them, teach them the beauty of and the love for music. As we look back upon the year that was, many of us have found new ways to teach our students and inspire their love of music. Many programs survived with the use of technology. As educators we learned new skill sets. We found new ways to engage with our students and our fellow colleagues. Facebook pages were created so that educators could help support each other through that trying time. As we move forward let us not forget that we still need each other to thrive. As we move forward let us look back on the new skills we learned and take those skills with us into the future.

But learning new music as a band, orchestra or choir presented many challenges and unfortunately, many programs were decimated. It was easier to close programs than figure out ways to save them. Now, many programs are going to have to be rebuilt. Yet like a phoenix they will rise again and we will all be stronger for that. We must look forward to how things can be rather than how things were. We are all going to be challenged to rebuild and reimagine our programs so that they are ready to embrace the 21st Century. Technology is not going away. It is here to stay. As we move forward let us look back on the skills not only we as educators have learned but that our students have. We can reach out to even more students through the use of technology and use these new ways to inspire and nurture their love of music.

The Central Coast Section is a small section membership-wise, but geographically we stretch approximately 140 miles. Trying to get to meetings has often provided a hardship to many of our southern educators. This past year, with Zoom, teachers and students were able to join us for meetings or for honors rehearsals and festivals. As we move forward we will not forget to look back on the lessons we learned about how the use of technology made access to our meetings and events easier for everyone. In the future we will be holding many meetings in a hybrid format so that everyone can be a part of the section and distance will no longer be a barrier.

Moving forward let us reflect back on what we have learned from this past year. Are we going to leave everything that we have learned out? Why would we? Many times I felt the “lightbulb go on” this past year while learning or using some type of technology. These are tools I am eager to keep in my toolbox for the upcoming year.I am excited about the new challenges that lie ahead in the upcoming year. We have faced the storm and we have come through it stronger. I hope you have a relaxing and reflective summer and are able to look back on the past as you move forward into the future.