Meetings

The number of meetings each year may vary according to local need and opportunity. Monthly meetings are recommended during the academic year. However, schedules should be flexible to permit meetings with special guests or for special purposes. The following are suggestions for chapter meeting topics and activities.

Enlist the following speakers for topics to include:

• new faculty members to discuss their backgrounds and philosophies;
• experienced teachers to discuss their experiences and problems;
• a panel of public school teachers who can discuss how the chapter can contribute to the success of Music In Our Schools Month® in the local schools;
• a panel of teachers to discuss studio teaching versus classroom teaching or public schools versus private schools;
• community representatives to discuss various aspects of music in community life;
• representatives from the music industry to discuss working with music dealers, careers in the industry, retailing, and so on;
• faculty from other departments to discuss performance anxiety, stage presence, stress management, time management, relaxation techniques, resolving conflicts, assertive discipline, and various concepts and techniques in contemporary education;
• classroom teachers and guidance personnel to discuss their relationships with music specialists and the special problems involved;
• other resource teachers (art, physical education, audiovisual, library) to discuss the relationships between their special areas and music;
• composers, conductors, and performers for lectures or lecture-recitals;
• international visitors to discuss music and music education in other countries;
• students with unusual backgrounds or experiences (winners of national scholarships, student teachers who teach abroad, foreign exchange students, and students who have expertise in marching techniques, auxiliary units, arranging, composing, and so on);
• state, division, or national officers of MENC to help orient Collegiate members to the professional organization;
• representatives from placement bureaus, teachers' agencies, or personnel departments to explain professional opportunities, education requirements, and career development;
• representatives from the county or state departments of education to explain certification, teaching requirements, and other pertinent matters;
• school administrators to discuss the inter-relationship of the special-subject teacher and the program of general education;
• university or departmental graduate coordinators to discuss the procedure for applying to graduate schools;
• theory and/or musicology faculty to discuss the effective use of knowledge in theory/music history in conducting rehearsals and preparing for performances; and
• a panel of student teachers or first-year teachers to discuss their professional experiences.

During chapter meetings the following may be included:

• new student orientation seminar during one of the first meetings of the year;
• introduction of new faculty members in the beginning of the school year;
• promotion of chapter membership enrollment on campus by explaining to students the nature and functions of MENC;
• preparation and implementation of meaningful and exciting chapter meetings on a regular basis;
• sponsorship of performances at area schools and community centers; and
• demonstrations, workshops, panels, discussions, reports, and the like, related to topics such as:
  • Articles from Music Educators Journal, Teaching Music, and other professional periodicals
  • Audiovisual equipment (multimedia) and how to use it effectively in teaching music
  • Band pageantry
  • Computers in music and music education for teaching as well as record-keeping
  • Contemporary music using electronic music, computers, synthesizers, and so on
  • Creativity
  • Evaluation and adjudication techniques
  • Legal aspects of teaching
  • Marketing for the profession
  • MENC media products (videotapes, CD-ROM software)
  • Music and lifelong learning
  • Music for exceptional children (students with disabilities, gifted students, and others)
  • Music in early childhood
  • Music in general education
  • Music selection and concert programming
  • Opera and musical theater
  • Portfolio formation and maintenance
  • Preparatory talks and follow-up reports of attendance at national, division, and state conferences
  • Research in music education
  • Show choirs and choreography
  • Sight reading for area teachers and university and high school students
  • Techniques for audio and video recording

Professional and Service Projects

The following projects are suggestions for chapter involvement:

• Initiate a program of professional development in order to provide practical and professional field experiences early in the life of the prospective music educator.
• Sponsor projects that benefit the department (musical performances, departmental beautification projects, and so on).
• Integrate chapter activities with classroom assignments.
• Sponsor a scholarship for a music education major.
• Maintain a special bulletin board for posting pertinent materials from chapter, state, division, and national sources related to Collegiate membership and to the general interests of music.
• Cooperate in joint meetings and activities with other campus groups (such as Sigma Alpha Iota, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, Student National Education Association) and off-campus groups (such as music teacher groups, music clubs, MusicFriends, Tri-M® chapters, and PTA groups).
• Help with freshman orientation activities.
• Initiate a Big Brother/Big Sister program for incoming freshmen.
• Sponsor a sing-along. Assign a choral director to each interested group on campus and present a combined public concert on campus.
• Sponsor chapter or departmental social activities (picnics, banquets, receptions, luncheons, dinners, dances, and so on).
• Cooperate with state, regional, and local music education activities held on campus or in the community.
• Serve as hospitality committee or host for music education meetings or similar events held on the campus or in the community.
• Provide music programs and concerts for retirement homes, hospitals, prisons, and other institutions.
• Organize a "music is for children" program to acquaint children with various aspects of music and to provide members with an opportunity to interact with children.
• Organize a tutoring service for underprivileged children (students with disabilities, culturally disadvantaged children, and others).
• Sponsor a classroom concert series for area public schools.
• Sponsor assemblies and other programs for elementary and secondary schools, your department, and/or campus.
• Participate in high school career day activities.
• Involve the public schools, community, and media in an in-depth program for Music In Our Schools Month®.
• Sponsor and participate in festivals and contests.
• Attend junior and senior high school music festivals and contests and offer to assist with rehearsals (sit in sections with students to help with mechanics, direct or assist with sectional rehearsals, and so on) and to participate in the adjudications.
• Offer to help at music festivals and contests by ushering, collecting tickets, and serving as guides.
• Present an evening of opera and symphony familiarization prior to performances on campus.
• Sponsor a conference for all Collegiate members in the state.
• Sponsor a series of radio programs on music appreciation, Music In Our Schools Month®, highlights in the department, chapter activities, chapter meetings, and concert schedules.
• Produce a presentation, film, or videotape of chapter and departmental activities for recruitment and information purposes.
• Submit articles of interest to local news media and to MENC.
• Publish a music department newsletter or alumni bulletin for music graduates.
• Become involved in the activities and projects of local Tri-M Music Honor Society® chapters.
• Plan to attend state, division, and national conferences.
• Encourage and support attendance at professional meetings and conferences.
• Offer assistance at state, division, and national conferences by hosting a Collegiate member lounge, hosting performing groups, and helping in office, registration, and job center areas.
• Plan to visit:

1. MENC headquarters
2. State departments of education
3. Music publishing firms and printing plants
4. Piano, organ, and instrument factories
5. Recording companies
6. Radio and television stations
7. Orchestra, band, and opera rehearsals
8. Elementary and secondary schools and other colleges and universities
9. Special-interest clinics and conferences

Suggested List of Chapter Activities

SUMMER:

Contact all new incoming music majors to welcome them, offer to assist with their transition, discuss the benefits of joining your MENC chapter, and indicate the date, time, and location of your first meeting.

DURING THE SCHOOL YEAR:

Schedule monthly meetings.
Find a time to meet each month that works well for a majority of the chapter members.

Schedule speakers.
Contact people on and off-campus who are willing to make presentations to the chapter about topics and issues related to music education (e.g. budgeting, fund-raising, internships, dealing with administrators, etc.).

Attend your state music educators association conference as a chapter.
Plan on having as many chapter members as possible participate in the state conference Collegiate sessions and events to enable them to network with music educators and visit exhibits.

Make arrangements to attend your division MENC conference.
Your division conference will include clinics, workshops, performances, and more. Don't miss the opportunity to discover what other chapters are doing, meet other future music educators, and join throngs of other enthusiastic music educators in experiencing the dynamically charged environment of an MENC division conference.

Have your members organize any project or event that will nuture the skills expected of public school teachers that are not taught in regular classes.
Examples include organizing contests, dances, fund-raisers, adjudication, clinics, festivals, trips, mentoring, event promotion, program promotion, recruitment, etc.

Volunteer as a chapter to assist with festivals and special events hosted by your music department.
Members can provide assistance by serving as guides, runners, announcers, etc., while generally being allowed to observe and participate in the event free of charge. These events also offer a great opportunity for chapters to raise money by selling commemorative items (e.g. T-shirts, pins, patches, etc.).

Establish a partnership with local Tri-M® chapters or assist area music teachers in establishing Tri-M chapters in schools where none exist.
Collegiate members have the opportunity to develop a "Big Brother/Sister" relationship between their university chapter and chapters of the Tri-M Music Honor Society® at local secondary schools. Some cooperative program ideas include mentoring, performances, community service projects, campus tours, and small ensemble coaching. Remember, those exceptional Tri-M students today could be exceptional MENC Collegiate members tomorrow!

For more information on the Tri-M Music Honor Society, click here, e-mail Student Programs Manager Shauna Leavitt, or call MENC Tri-M Membership at 800-336-3768.

Sponsor on and off-campus Music In Our Schools Month® (March) activities in your area.
Activities could include lecture/performance trips to local schools, alumni visits to members' high school alma maters, legislative visits, or letter-writing campaigns. Contact local schools and legislators to get involved and participate in this month of recognition and awareness.

Participate in the Future Teachers Forum.
Visit the Future Teachers forum on the MENC Web site. Get involved in the discussions and check out the resources for Collegiate members.

Organize an event or project that will qualify your chapter for the Chapter of Excellence.
Work together to create an extraordinary and outstanding experience for all involved and then make plans to submit the Chapter of Excellence application to MENC's national office annually. Those selected to be recognized will receive a plaque and will be mentioned in an issue of an MENC magazine.

Promote MENC's MusicFriends advocacy membership program.
Incorporate the ongoing promotion of MusicFriends into your concerts, projects, and events that include people who are passionate about music. Urge them to find out about this easy way to help keep music alive in our education system. Go to www.musicfriends.org, or call 800-336-3768 and ask for the MusicFriends staff to find out more. 

Excellence in Chapter Programs: Chapter of Excellence 2008

University of Massachusetts Lowell, Chapter 201
Recital Night

Since many of our MENC Collegiate members are private lesson instructors, one member suggested hosting a special recital night for private students. The recital gave the opportunity for our students to perform on a professional recital hall stage at our university, view what other students were working on musically, and understand the values of performance. Additionally, it gave our MENC Collegiate members a chance to highlight their successful pedagogical accomplishments.

Each participating student received a free DVD and CD of the event along with an award signed by the music education department chair and that student’s Collegiate teacher. The funding was provided in full by our chapter through a carwash fundraiser. The event started in the spring of 2006 with only 5 private students and grew to more than 15 students and over 100 attendees by the spring 2007 performance. Our chapter looks forward to an even more impressive recital next spring.

Baldwin-Wallace, Chapter 141
Professional Development Workshop

One of the traditions of the Baldwin-Wallace CMENC chapter has been its Annual Workshop Series, which consists of fall and spring music education events that are open to Baldwin-Wallace students, other college students, and local educators. For this fall’s workshop, our chapter created a panel of experts in school administration and all areas of music education. The workshop included guided, interactive discussions focusing on topics such as extra-curricular groups, field trips, booster groups, fundraising, and legal issues. Some of the panel members were Baldwin-Wallace alumni, and they shared what was useful from their education and some things they wish they had learned.

This panel was a great success because we were able to discuss topics that we don’t normally have time to cover in our methods classes and to meet local experts that we can use as professional resources. We met local teachers with outstanding programs where we could consider observing or student teaching. We received a great deal of positive feedback from this event, and we hope to continue providing our chapter members and local educators with professional development opportunities of this caliber in the future.

Otterbein College, Chapter 115
Elementary “Petting Zoos”

The CMENC chapter of Otterbein College has collaborated with the Westerville Public School District to increase children’s knowledge about instruments and music genres. Our chapter presents a “petting zoo” to many of the elementary schools near our campus. The evening begins with a mini-concert featuring a specific family of instruments and concludes with students visiting a “petting zoo.” This portion is set up as a discovery center, where each child can try out a variety of instruments. Otterbein students present the performing groups for the evening, give information about the instruments to kids, and guide the elementary students through playing the instruments.

These petting zoos have become a hit with the principals, teachers, parents—and most important, the children! These nights gain advocacy and support from the principals and parents and give students a chance to play the instruments they often only see in a textbook. Our goal is to foster in these children a continuing love and knowledge of music.

Excellence in Chapter Projects

University of Alabama, Chapter 293
Alabama Folksong Fantasy: Commissioning a Folk Song

Our big project these past two years was the commissioning of composer Anne McGinty, the most prolific female composer in the band world. We asked her to write a piece for middle school band students based on folk melodies from An Alabama Songbook by Historian Robert Halli. Since folk music is an important aspect of our music education courses and represents our southern heritage, we were interested in a piece that could be used statewide to promote national music standard nine: “Understanding music in relation to history and culture.”

Our executive board planned several successful fundraising efforts and partnered with several middle school band directors to meet the costs involved to commission the composer, thanks to the help of our chapter sponsor and our director of bands. This fall, Queenwood and Kjos Music Inc. published our Grade 2 pieces, making Alabama Folksong Fantasy available to middle school students and teachers throughout the country. This process has given our chapter a sense that commissioning new pieces of music is something all of us can do to benefit future students and fellow music teachers.

Southeastern Florida University, Chapter 1025
Extreme Makeover: Middle School Band Edition

The Southeastern University CMENC chapter adopted the Crystal Lake Middle School band program in Lakeland, Florida. In the fall of 2006, our members went to their band room and performed an “extreme makeover.” The CMENC membership, as well as the middle school students, went to work painting the hallways, cleaning out and cataloguing the instrument storage closet, updating and organizing the music library, adjusting and fixing the percussion instruments, and decorating the band room with brand new music posters. When the students returned to the classroom on Monday, they were excited by the transformation. We continued to assist them during the year through individual and group lessons. The adoption of the school was a great success and continues to be a success both for our chapter and the Crystal Lake Band Program.

William Patterson University, Chapter 317
New Orleans Habitat for Humanity Project

Last September, CMENC Chapter 317 at William Patterson University in New Jersey implemented a project to raise money for the Musician’s Village (part of the Habitat for Humanity project) in New Orleans. Over the next six months, we developed a concert fundraiser and invited friends, family, and the public. Between the generous donations we received and the success of the concert, we raised a grand total of $3,000 for Habitat for Humanity.

We also raised funds to allow ten students from Chapter 317 to travel to the Musician’s Village and work on the Habitat site during spring break. Along with adults and a few students from Westminster Choir College, chapter members spent a week working at the Musician’s Village site. It was the trip of a lifetime: we learned so much and enjoyed seeing the sights and enjoying the atmosphere. After the trip, everyone could better appreciate everything they possess. On December 8, 2007, we formally presented our donation to the Preservation Hall Jazz Band from New Orleans for Habitat for Humanity.

Chapter of Excellence Recruitment Techniques

Susquehanna University, Chapter 176
Freshman Buddy Program

For the 2005-2006 and 2006-2007 school years, we developed the CMENC Freshmen Buddy Program to align every new music education major with a sophomore, junior, or senior music education major. Over the summer, our chapter officers send a personalized letter of welcome to every freshman, explaining what our CMENC chapter is and telling them that they have a music education buddy who is exited about meeting them when they arrive on campus. In the letter, we also invite them to three events that take place during the first week of classes: a music department cookout, a “freshman and buddy only” CMENC meeting on the first night of classes, and a CMENC cookout at our chapter advisor’s home.

The buddy program, which continues for many throughout their entire college years, encourages buddies to attend chapter meetings together and to participate in informal mentor meetings. The multiple ways in which we interacted seems to be a success because our membership continues to reflect 100% of our school’s music education majors, and the number of students who are retained in the major continues to rise.

Shenandoah Conservatory of Shenandoah University, Chapter 283
Creative Recruitment Techniques

Our chapter president contacts incoming music education majors at Shenandoah Conservatory in July of each year via a welcome letter that includes information about MENC, highlights past accomplishments, and includes a tentative calendar of events and workshops for the school year. The chapter president also contacts returning music education majors to encourage continued participation. During the first week of classes, student officers visit music education classes to distribute MENC applications and answer questions concerning membership. This allows our CMENC chapter to create a presence early in the school year. We are able to share the benefits of membership and highlight upcoming events.

In September of 2006, we hosted an ice cream social. In September of 2007, we hosted a T-shirt making welcome night, during which music education majors worked together to design and create chapter T-shirts. It was fun to see students wearing SCMENC original T-shirts throughout the music building during the start of the semester. By hosting social events early in the semester, we were able to connect with music education majors and form friendships, mentorships, and professional contacts.

Boston Conservatory, Chapter 336
A Partnership with the Kids Are People School

Last school year, our chapter began traveling to the Kids Are People School in Boston once a month to teach general music lessons to grades K–8. Without visits from our chapter members, these students would not receive any music education since the school has no music teacher. The school is unique in that it has a large special needs and gifted population. During the year, small groups of our members taught the school’s nearly 100 students in class settings. The lessons covered concepts such as tempo, rhythm, and dynamics. We also taught the Kids Are People school song, which was specifically written for the school by one of our members. In June, the students performed many of the songs they had learned at an assembly. We were also able to use some of our chapter funds to purchase hand percussion instruments for the school. They now have almost 100 instruments.

This year, the kids used their new instruments during an assembly in which the Kids Are People students met our newest chapter members and teachers. The monthly lessons for this coming year are scheduled, and we hope this partnership will continue to benefit both the Kids Are People School students and our chapter members.