2 minute read
Southern Border Section Update
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Things are great at the bottom of the state!
Greetings and good tidings to all. I am Jonathan Seligman, the Southern Border Section’s Vice President of Instrumental Music! The past eight years, I’ve served at the K-6 level as Casillas Elementary’s founding music teacher down in Chula Vista. Like all of us in our field, I have enjoyed serving my students and my community. However, since the adjacent years of joining the CMEA-SBS’s board, I have had the honor to observe how many other music educators work both in and outside their four walls.
And you know what? We have some amazing educators in California.
Educators who found ways to reorganize old systems to meet current needs. Through the wisdom of Dean Hickman and Cameron Brown, CMEA-SBS formed a roaming adjudicator system to ensure safety during mid-COVID.
Educators who seek to form naturalistic paths to tie the music classroom with technology. Using his knowledge of Digital Audio Workstations and communal learning through fun, Jesse Rogers has created a program where students have created their own class songs and uploaded it to Spotify.
Educators who engrain whole-child learning in their ensemble. Even when moving from elementary to high school, Darlene Machacon at La Quinta emphasizes social emotional learning in her lesson plans to where her voice isn’t centered but her ensemble’s is uplifted.
Educators who create new systems where they don’t exist. As the elementary choral presence in San Diego is new, CMEA-SBS president-elect Emma Schopler established a choral festival to celebrate the joy of singing.
We have some amazing educators in California. Things truly are great throughout the entire Bear state.
But these are just snippets of vertical slices of narratives. It is crucial for our profession that we uplift the narratives of all educators beyond the four walls with which we teach. All of us have a voice and a perspective that makes our broader community stronger. If these voices are not heard, then the only path we tread is the status quo. Teacher-centric, Euro-centric, status quo sans innovation.
This is even more crucial now that Proposition 28 has passed. Legislators need to hear new good ideas. Admin need to hear new good ideas. New teachers hired from this money need to hear new good ideas.
So, how do we uplift?
This is dependent on your voice and your community. Some have the capacity to create a podcast. Some have the capacity to speak on them. Some write articles. Some share ideas on social media. Some share narratives by word of mouth.
Whatever mode you choose, your voice matters. Our voices matter. For the sake of our profession, let’s make sure they don’t stay hidden within the four walls we teach but to the greater community.
