The New NAfME President Measures Up!
By Lori Schwartz Reichl
This article originally appeared in the August 2018 issue of Teaching Music magazine.
Kathleen D. Sanz, who officially began her role as NAfME President in June, is no stranger to leadership roles in music organizations: She has served as president of the Florida School Music Association, President of the Southern Division of NAfME, and president of the Florida Music Education Association (FMEA), for which she currently serves as State Executive. When asked to run for NAfME president, she politely declined, but her husband challenged her with one simple, pivotal question: “What would June Hinckley tell you to do?” A respected friend of Sanz, Hinckley was a Past President of NAfME, a former arts education specialist for the Florida Department of Education, and a former chair of the National Consortium for Arts Education Association. Although she left us over a decade ago, Hinckley’s influence still shines brightly on Sanz. A few days after her husband’s question, she enthusiastically accepted the invitation to run.
Sanz, who currently serves as President and CEO of the June Hinckley Center for Fine Arts Education in Tallahassee, Florida, was formerly the Supervisor of Curriculum and Instructional Services and co-director of the District School Board of Pasco (Florida) County Curriculum Department. From 1985 to 2006, she supervised fine arts at the K–12 level after serving eight years as an elementary music educator. In addition, she served as a grant evaluator for the U.S. Department of Education’s “Professional Development in Arts Education” (PDAE) for the Hillsborough County Public Schools. She also developed and received grants from the Florida Division of Cultural Affairs for FMEA, awarded annually from 2011 to 2018. Born in Erie, Pennsylvania, Sanz’s Irish family moved to a large Spanish community in Tampa, Florida, where her elementary school included a number of students who spoke Spanish.
Kathleen D. Sanz brings substantial knowledge of curriculum and assessment development to the national level. She served as the project manager for the development of the Sunshine State Standards for the Arts and, as a contributing author for Silver Burdett, she created listening lessons for elementary music. To ensure Florida teacher recertification, Sanz coordinated the development of an online model for teaching fine arts to students with disabilities.
“I plan to listen to the MEAs of each state; strengthen research in music education so that teachers understand their students and decision-makers make better decisions; and create more collaborations with principals, PTAs, and corporate and academic partners.”
Her goals for NAfME are to continue the conversation and sensitize members to diversity, poverty, social justice, inclusion, and equity and access. “I plan to listen to the MEAs of each state; strengthen research in music education so that teachers understand their students and decision-makers make better decisions; and create more collaborations with principals, PTAs, and corporate and academic partners.”
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Catherina Hurlburt, Marketing Communications Manager. August 20, 2018. © National Association for Music Education (NAfME.org)
