Southern Border Section Update

• The first step is to identify students with an IEP or 504

Plan at the beginning of the year or at enrollment. A list of enrolled students with an IEP or 504 should be provided to a teacher prior to the beginning of the school year. • Read the IEP/504 Plan. Look for any reference in the document that addresses physical, behavioral, sensory or environmental conditions. - Review the new #16 guidelines with the parent/legal guardian to determine any factors that may hinder a successful school outing.

If needed, ask if the parent is available to accompany the student on extracurricular activities, but note, you cannot make this a requirement for participation. • An IEP/504 may not contain references to music education accommodations or off campus activities. This makes a conference with the parent/legal guardian very important. • If the student is enrolled in a special education class, it would be helpful to speak to the Special Education teacher for their insight into a student's need for accommodation on an extracurricular activity. • If an accommodation plan is needed, notify the parents/ legal guardian.

2. “Remain accessible for students with disabilities.”

• If a Direct Service Provider (DSP) is assigned to a student, i.e. a one on-one aide, and that person works at more than one location, that person needs to be asked if there have been Covid cases at their other assignment. Action regarding this request should be a protocol established by the school and/or school district. • All the suggestions under this protocol are specific and helpful, especially the one regarding wearing a clear mask by the adult staff. - Investigate the venue of the activity in advance to determine if any accommodation cannot be adjusted for a student. - Determine whether the masking and other expectations by the event location is in compliance with any student accommodation. This would also apply to all students. • Determine if you need to share that you have students with accommodations to the activity coordinator. • Reviewing this information brings to mind other suggestions. • If necessary, have a talk with the student about any concerns they may have regarding the travel or activity. Providing one-to-one reassurance can be very helpful. • Many students need a great deal of lead time in emotionally preparing for an activity, which may be a response to a change in routine. This information may come from contact with parents or others, but could also be expressed by the student. • If possible, check any food issues. The student may have food requirements that may not be accommodated by the menu planned for the activity.

Prior to Covid, the issues of accommodation on a field trip or extracurricular activity were addressed for Students with Disabilities. This additional CDPH guideline for Extracurricular activities is another layer of diligence that needs to be followed in order to continue the implementation of access to the curriculum and school events for all students.

Submitted by: Angela Holmes Southeastern Section Representative Past CMEA Special/Diverse Learners Representative

Things are great at the bottom of the state!

Aaron Mulder is in his 13th year of teaching, currently as director of bands and music department co-chair at the San Diego School of Creating and Performing Arts. Since he moved to San Diego 3 years ago, his mastery of music education has become apparent to our community, also being elected to the Southern Border Section executive board as secretary this past September. As I’ve come to know Aaron, I’ve also been intrigued at his dual role as a full-time teacher and also a Sergeant in the 300th Army Band. We had a chance to sit down and talk recently about this unique paring.

JM: What was your path to become an educator? Was the military a formative part of your thought process early on?

AM: The military and education components didn’t really align for me until six years ago. I had thought about joining one of the active duty service bands as a performer right out of high school, but didn’t for whatever reason. I went to Harper College in Palatine, Illinois, and the Chicago Conservatory of Music for a Bachelor’s in Music Education, started teaching beginning band in Grayslake, and received my Master’s from VanderCook. It was much later that I found out being a reserve musician was a thing! When I realized I could be in a service band as a performer but also still be an educator, it was a no-brainer for me. So I looked up my local reserve band, I auditioned, I was accepted, and went off to boot camp.

JM: How did boot camp work with your teaching job?

AM: All Soldiers go to Basic Combat Training for ten weeks followed by Advanced Individual Training based on their occupation in the Army. As a Bandsman, that meant 10 weeks at the Army School of Music for a total of 20 weeks out of the classroom. My school was really great about finding me a long-term sub, and I came right back to my job when everything was finished.

JM: As a non-military person, was boot camp as grueling as it might seem? And what was music school like, compared to an undergrad?

AM: When it comes to boot camp, if you are mature and responsible, it isn’t bad. It’s mentally challenging, pushing you to do things you didn’t think you could do, things that are scary like holding a grenade or rappelling. It also forces you to focus for intense periods, despite distractions or how many hours you sleep. It really pushes you psychologically.

There’s one school of music in Virginia Beach that every musician attends. They expect you to already be musically proficient, thus the audition before, so the objective is to learn how to do music the Army way. One of our most important roles is ceremonial – retirement, change of command, welcoming home deployed Soldiers – there’s a specific framework that needs to be followed, often from traditions that have lasted hundreds of years. We also learn how to implement entertainment concepts into a performance. That’s one thing I found that’s different than a normal undergrad. You don’t just sit, practice, and play, you have to entertain the audience. This incorporates adding non-musical elements to enhance the music, things like stage blocking, narration, programming. What are you doing to bring the audience a unique experience?

JM: That’s interesting! My last CMEA Magazine article was about updating and democratizing the performance experience. I hadn’t thought that military bands are ahead of the curve on this! So after music school when you went back to teaching, what did your commitment as a reservist look like?

AM: Here in San Diego, we have two days per month where we report to the band based in Los Angeles. This could include full rehearsals, concert preparations, Army training, and a number of administrative tasks. Every band is completely self-sustaining, so it parallels my job as a band director – we all deal with things like recruiting, finances, supplies, PR, and scheduling.

Musically, we are assigned to a music performance team (MPT). This could be something like a brass quintet, woodwind quintet, rock band, or marching band. Let’s say an organization requests that we play at a local library to raise awareness for military families. Our MPT puts together a program, we add narration, we arrange the music if we have to, and that’s our job. The way the bands work is that we only perform when someone invites us, so for instance if a school wants a saxophone quartet or even the full band to come and perform, there’s some paperwork to fill out, then we do! Our performances also always have to be free, open to anyone. We often do performances at schools, not for recruitment necessarily, but to tell the Army story and connect the public with the Army that serves them. For many people, we might be the only Soldiers they ever meet.

JM: How difficult is it to balance your teaching job with your Army commitments, especially now that you teach high school opposed to middle school? How do you deal with conflicts?

AM: I’m not sure if you want to put this in the article… this is just my opinion, but a lot of people have a very inflated sense of how important they are for their program. Let me explain! Before the Army, I frequently told myself, “I can’t miss this, I’m so important to my program.” But there are conflicts from time to time, and I found that more often than not, one of those places can do without me. It’s a matter of building up my students so they can administer our musical objectives without me there. If I take a day off for training, a substitute is there but my students run the class. We spend class time talking through what they need to do, letting them try things out with me still there, assessing their deficiencies and allowing them to shore them up, and when it came time to miss, I received great feedback from all the adult supervisors. My goal is to make them grow to the point where they don’t always