OMEABoardPresidentPresident’sColumn

GreetingsFellow MusicEducators

These fall articles always seem to start the same way with talk of vacation and encouragement for the school year about to begin. If you are like me, you are always reluctant to jump back into the fray, knowing that, once in the current, it doesn’t let up until June. By the time this journal arrives in the mail, you will already have jumped in and, hopefully, will have gotten used to the pace. I remember all the years of high school marching band where I would get a knot in my stomach the week before band camp, knowing that the peace of early August was about to be shattered by the organized chaos of late August and band camp. There was never any easing into it either. You wake up in the morning and go to school to be greeted by 180 hyper, over-stimulated teenagers. A jolt, yes, but, once I acclimated to the noise and activity, I loved it! I know that you do as well, or you wouldn’t be in this field. So, with that said, welcome to the 2005-2006 school year!

OMEA Conference 2006

For OMEA this is an exciting time and year. We will have our conference in Eugene on January 26-29. You can read the details about the con - ference elsewhere in the journal or on the web page. I, for one, am very excited about what is in store for us. Steve Zielke has spent countless hours and energy working to ensure that it will be the best OMEA conference to date. If you know Steve, you know that every aspect of the conference has been thought out and meticulously planned. You also know that he will leave no stone unturned in his attempt to provide the best and to meet the needs of all OMEA members. Please do your best to find the time and money to attend. I guarantee that you will not be disappointed.

Outstanding Educator Awards

I talked in the spring about the need to recognize those music educators who have given above and beyond: those men and women who exemplify all that is good in our profession. Included in this journal (pages 20, 22 and 23) are forms for honoring those deserving educators in (or out of) your district. Please send your completed forms to me at George Fox University, 414 N. Meridian St., Newberg, OR 97132. A committee will review the nominations and select those nominees they feel are the most deserving recipients based on what you have to say. Selected individuals will be recognized at the banquet during the January conference.

On the topic of recognition, congratulations need to go out to Mary Lou Boderman. Mary Lou was selected by the National Federation Of State High School Associations to receive the honor of NFHS Outstanding Music Educator Award for Oregon for the 2004-2005 school year. I had the privilege of presenting Mary Lou with a plaque at her final concert last spring. At that concert, I saw a side of Mary Lou I have not seen before. The South Salem Band was holding an auction and Mary Lou was the auctioneer during the intermission. She is really good! I’m sure she would be willing to come to your school and share her special skills as an auctioneer for any of you who have that need.

Please make sure you congratulate Mary Lou for this honor. She is one of Oregon’s very best, and her contribution to music education in this state is something we all should treasure.

Further Ramblings

Previously, I have written about the retention and encouragement of our better citizen-musicians to look at a career in music education. It is interesting to be on the other side of the coin at the university level and to be a part of the training of those few who choose to follow in our footsteps. The burden is awesome. I remember many a convention sitting around a table wondering why our universities weren’t producing continued on page 8...