President's Message by Anne Fennell, CMEA President
Happy Summer, Everyone!
From June 22 - 24th, I had the opportunity to attend NAfME’s annual National Assembly in Reston, VA., along with other state presidents, NAfME Leadership, and the Society and Council Chairs. While I had attended this gathering in past years as the Innovations Council Chair, it was wonderful to represent California as a state president where I could connect, share, and learn from others with similar roles, responsibilities, and needs.
provided further guidance in each of the four cornerstones that include: Advocacy, Equity, Professional Learning and Growth, and Music Research and Music Teacher Education. The second day we brainstormed ideas and solutions to support: Pathways To and Through the Profession, Diversifying the Music Curriculum, and Connecting Tri-M and Collegiate Students. With so many topics, we were asked to dig deep and to have challenging conversations, which we did! Our final morning focused on teacher recruitment and retention, a common conversation in every state. I look forward to seeing the outcomes from each of these breakouts and I will provide links and information when these ideas have been collated.
The two and a half days were packed with general and breakout sessions, where we identified and discussed common needs and issues in music education and how they relate to NAfME. Everyone involved focused on solutions to the various needs, while our collective brainstorming provided ideas to move NAfME forward to meet the needs of all members. On the first day, we focused on the NAfME Strategic Plan draft where we reviewed language of the plan’s version and Summer Issue 2022
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