While in college, a University of Alabama alumnus Ty Parker held several leadership positions in the school’s “Million-Dollar Band,” including alto saxophone section leader and drum major. He also studied music education.
Last summer, as a new teacher about to become band director at Good Hope High School in Cullman, Alabama, Parker felt he needed a bit more classroom guidance. In June 2010 he attended the Instrumental Academy during MENC’s Music Education Week. Parker wanted information he could use to helm his classroom, and he said he found it.
“The best thing for me was the handouts—information that I could take home and refer back to,” he said. “I got a lot of information on music selection, what kinds of music work with different age- groups. It is great to have those kinds of references.”
Music Education Week is June 24–28, 2011 in Washington, DC. In creating the in-depth academies for Music Education Week organizers want attendees to think of the two-day sessions as “master classes” providing music educators in-depth, hands-on instruction.
David Neves, chairman of MENC’s Professional Development Committee, said, “Each year we increase both the quantity and the quality of the presentations as we learn from our teachers what they really want to dig into in these two intense days of professional development.”
The academies are aimed at music teachers in all disciplines and at preservice as well in-service music educators. All academies will take place at the Crystal Gateway Marriott in Arlington, Virginia. The titles are:
- Arts Integration Academy: Developing 21st Century Skills through Arts Integration
- Choral Academy: Refresh Your Choral Rehearsal Techniques and Improve Conducting Skills for a Refreshed Year of Teaching
- Composition Academy: Minds on Middle School Composition
- General Music Academy: From the Beginning and Beyond— Building a Foundation for Music Learning, Birth to Age 8+ (Sponsored by Sponsored by Peripole-Bergerault)
- In-Ovations Academy: Performing on Non-Traditional Instruments in Ethnic Music Ensembles at the Middle School Level (Sponsored by Sponsored by Peripole-Bergerault)
- Instrumental Academy: Everything You Ever Wanted To Know about Conducting in Two Days with Anthony Maiello
- Jazz Academy: Jazz Education Today – Building a Solid Foundation for the Future
- Marching Music Academy (Presented by DCI)
- Research Academy
- Supervisors Academy: Music Education in the 21st Century— Leading the Work (Sponsored by Conn-Selmer)
Register by March 15, 2011, to be entered into a drawing to win a complimentary academy registration or two free nights at the Crystal Gateway Marriott.
Music Education Week Events and Performances
—Roz Fehr, March 10, 2011. © MENC: The National Association for Music Education
