NAfME is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2018 Shannon Kelly Kane Scholarship, the 2018 Professional Achievement Award, as well as the Chapter of Excellence Award recipients. These individuals and chapters have worked tirelessly to advance the field of music education and we applaud their efforts.
2018 Professional Achievement Award Recipients:
The purpose of the Professional Achievement Award is to recognize individual NAfME Collegiate members for their commitment and dedication to NAfME and music education. This recognition is given to Collegiate members who have served their chapters in an exemplary manner.
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Jenae Maley, University of Central Missouri, Warrensburg, MO
“Jenae is the NAfME-C Chapter President at the University of Central Missouri (UCM), and is someone who has made a positive impact on her chapter, our state, and the Southwestern Division. I first met Jenae at the NAfME Hill Day when she joined our Missouri delegation on our Hill Day visits. From that time forward, Jenae has been in the center of all NAfME activities. Within her own chapter at UCM, Jenae grew membership, coordinated mock interviews for chapter members preparing to student teach, and wrote and was awarded a grant to fund purchasing 20 ukuleles for a community outreach program. At the state level, Jenae wrote and distributed an informational newsletter to all chapters in Missouri as well as developed and designed the new state NAfME-C website. Jenae spearheaded the NAfME-C efforts in our Missouri Hill Day in March. During the summer of 2017, Jenae organized the first Southwestern Division Conference [that was] solely for collegiate members. Her work and efforts are making a large impact on many groups and many individuals.” – Jeff Melsha, Past-President, Missouri MEA
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Lindsey Streeter, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI
“Ms. Streeter has been an outstanding member of our chapter where she has served as an officer since the fall of 2015. She attended NAfME’s Collegiate Advocacy Summit in ’16 and ’17 in addition to attending Michigan MEA’s conference in ’17 and ’18. During her tenure as an executive board member of the Western Michigan University (WMU) chapter, she helped create a procedure manual and job schedule for board officers, and she was instrumental in rewriting the chapter’s constitution and maintaining the chapter website. Lindsey applied for and received a grant from her school of music to help send chapter members to NAfME’s 2018 Collegiate Advocacy Summit. Ms. Streeter also planned service events such as Valentines for Veterans, Thanksgiving treats for educators, and Halloween goodies for children at local hospitals. Ms. Streeter is a promising future music teacher whose current activities foretell an active role in state and national music education advocacy efforts.” – Kenneth Smith, Chapter Advisor, Western Michigan University
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Harlow Alexander, Marywood University, Scranton, PA
“Harlow is the Marywood NAfME Chapter President and has enjoyed a very successful tenure that has involved her, and the organization, in advocacy recruitment and service initiatives. In her first year at Marywood she was the recipient of the Sr. Mary Persico Marywood University President’s Emerging Leader Award as well as recently being awarded the Departmental Award for Musical Excellence. Harlow has been elected as President-Elect of the Pennsylvania Collegiate MEA and has used this opportunity to advocate for music education in Washington, D.C., at NAfME’s Collegiate Advocacy Summit. Harlow’s leadership and vision have vaulted Marywood’s chapter into a position of higher visibility and a position where they are counted on to be involved in various campus activities, often in support of the university’s Core Values. For the past three years Alexander has managed department-sponsored festivals, which attract more than 800 students annually. Harlow is a tireless, dependable, and meticulous worker who always sets a fine example for others to follow.” – F. David Romines, Department Co-Chair, Marywood University
Chapter of Excellence Award Recipients:
The Chapter of Excellence Recognition was developed to encourage chapters to plan and execute successful chapter Music Programs, Professional Development Projects, Recruitment Techniques, Advocacy, and Service Projects. Recognition of excellent projects is conferred annually and is based on activities completed by the chapter between January 1 and December 31st of the year prior. Chapters are evaluated on participation, commitment, creativity, impact, organization, uniqueness and visibility.
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Recruitment: University of Central Missouri, Warrensburg, MO
“The NAfME chapter at the University of Central Missouri (UCM) increased their recruitment efforts this past fall through establishing an online presence, directly contacting potential new members, and increasing their visibility as a professional organization within the music department at UCM. As future music educators, we realize the value and importance of being involved in a professional organization that will provide extra learning, professional development, and networking opportunities. Although fall recruitment was a massive undertaking, we were overjoyed to have 64 members in our chapter this year, which is 20 more than last year!” – Jenae Maley, President, UCM Collegiate NAfME Chapter
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Service: Lynchburg College, Lynchburg, VA
“Service learning projects combine academic learning goals and service in ways that promote student learning and benefit communities. The Music Bridges Program is a collaborative venture between the Lynchburg College Music Department and the Ellington Fellowship Playhouse. During weekly visits, students identified as ‘at-risk’ participate in individual and group lessons designed to provide valuable musical opportunities. ‘Songs about Me: Sharing Your Culture and Identity with Your Students,’ was a service learning research project examining what you can do to create an inclusive music classroom and where to begin. Students shared meaningful songs from different countries, eras, and styles. The process of sharing songs allows both students and teachers a chance to learn more about one another, to break down barriers, and facilitate better classroom communication.” – Leray Wingo, President, Lynchburg College NAfME Chapter
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Professional Development: Indiana University, Bloomington, IN
“Our school’s chapter is dedicated to the idea of using professional development as a way to enhance the educational experiences of our student members. Our ’16-‘17 programs were organized around the theme of ‘Celebrating All Voices,’ which focused on diversity as it appears in the music classroom in terms of both student populations and teaching practices. The ’17-’18 theme, ‘Nurturing Effective Educators,’ focuses on how our members can use the variety of tools discussed in our professional development classes to improve their teaching practices.” – Jonah Andreatta, President, Indiana University Collegiate NAfME Chapter
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Advocacy: University of Miami, Miami, FL
“In April of 2017, the chapter held their first annual Social Media Advocacy campaign. They encouraged the members, peers, family, and friends to take part in five days of posting to social media. These posts followed our five themed days, such as #MotivationMonday and #WhyMusicWednesday. We were so pleased to find that our campaign had reached other collegiate programs in Florida and music educators within the greater Miami community.” – Caterina Papadopulos, President, University of Miami Collegiate NAfME Chapter
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Music Program: Marywood University, Scranton, PA
“The Marywood University Celebrations are three annual music festivals organized by the Marywood University Chapter of NAfME. Each festival requires the officers and members to dedicate an astonishing number of hours towards ensuring the success of each festival. The festivals consist of a String Celebration for seventh through twelfth grade students, a Junior Wind Band Celebration for seventh through ninth grade students, and a Senior Wind Band Celebration for tenth through twelfth grade students. The chapter’s 27 music education majors oversee all three celebrations. The three festivals hosted during 2017 have been Marywood’s most successful events.” – Harlow Alexander, President, Marywood University Collegiate NAfME Chapter
2018 Shannon Kelly Kane Scholarship Recipient
The Shannon Kelly Kane Scholarship was created by Shannon’s family and friends in coordination with NAfME to honor her exemplary life and her love of teaching music. The scholarship award is open to current members of NAfME Collegiate, who have been nominated for the NAfME Collegiate Professional Achievement Recognition. Congratulations to the 2018 recipient of the Shannon Kelly Kane Scholarship: Harlow Alexander of Marywood University.
Winners will be formally recognized on stage at National Assembly as part of the NAfME Awards program in late June 2018. Following the awards program, a professional photographer will be available so recipients may further memorialize the honor with the leaders of their state music education association.
Learn more about the NAfME Collegiate program.
