Message from WMEA President Ron Gerhardstein
Learning and Growing Through the New and Unknown
W elcome to the New Year! I hope that this year is filled with tremendous joy for all of us in the music education community both personally and professionally. The winter break is always a good time to take stock in all the best that we have collectively as music educators – the gift of our students and the honor that it truly is to bring
for the WMEA All-State Task Force Committee that went out to our membership in November. The board posed questions in that document in areas where we would sim - ply like to hear from our membership and to learn more about what is working and what is not regarding All-State. We are doing our best to be organized and thoughtful in this process given a short time frame. We all have times professionally where it feels like we are building the air - plane at the same time as learning how to fly. The work surrounding the All-State Task Force feels a bit that way to me, but I am thankful to members who volunteered their service right away. As I write this reflection, we are work - ing on putting the committee together. Please share your feedback with the committee when the time comes. Be on the lookout for messages from the WMEA office on how you can lend your voice. Growth Can Blossom from Change When I reflect back on my career and with this theme of learning and growth in mind, it becomes clear that the most growth happened in moments that involved the most change. It was times of transition whether planned or not. It was times that forced me to dive in and just figure things out whether or not I was motivated to do so at the start. In my current position at PLU, I teach courses in the music education program and serve as the associate director of bands. This work tracks with what I have pri - marily done for my entire education career – I am a band director. Three things stand out as professional opportu - nities outside of being a band director that brought about significant personal growth – and to be honest some of it was a slow and painful process! I will never forget three years of directing the junior high school choir (terrifying at first – awesome by the end), taking over a section of the ethnomusicology class at PLU (painful at first – acceptable midstream – and now it’s fun), and co-teaching preschool music to 2 and 3-year-old children in graduate school (like a fish out of water at the beginning – inspired and loving it by the end). What is new in your professional world? Perhaps you are teaching a class that is brand new to you this year and this is bringing both opportunity and challenge. Maybe, you have developed a teaching unit that you are trying out for the first time that is inspiring both you and your students. Or, maybe you are working to fill a gap in your student’s experience that you have been thinking about for some time. Are you learning to play a new instrument, or doing something new for yourself musically outside of school? And, something on everyone’s mind is teaching and learning post-pandemic with all of the myriad chal - lenges that this brings – gaps in learning, reduced numbers in your feeder program, or new discoveries because of lessons learned and experimentation during the pandemic. No matter what challenges face you in this moment, I wish Continued on page 6
music to the next generation. Of course, there are and will continue to be challenges ahead both large and small. Through it all, here is hoping that we learn and grow through the process and that we come out the other side as better educators, with more skill and ability to impact our students. Challenges can bring opportunities for new learning and growth and if there is any “upside” to the last two years it is the courage to take action with the confi - dence to know that “we got this.” Recently, I have been thinking about growth opportunities for WMEA and some of the ways that I have grown as an educator over the years. New Opportunities at WMEA Here at WMEA we have several items that make the list as potential learning and growth opportunities! The first, is the move of our office from Lynnwood into a shared space at WIAA (Washington Interscholastic Activities As - sociation) in Renton. This move saves us quite a bit in our budget but it also means an extra challenge of staff mem - bers working remotely and without the benefit of regular in person collaboration. WIAA was an amazing advocacy partner during the pandemic and by sharing space in their office complex, I believe we will see many future benefits for our organization as well as organization efficiencies for WMEA. The second new thing at WMEA is the addition of Beth Fortune on our staff! We have needed some additional staff support for some time, but for months the budget was simply too tight to pull this off. For those of you who know Beth, you know already what an amazing educator and inspiring leader she is. Beth is a visionary with the heart and mind to ask hard questions and the courage to act. She is going to help us in many ways from completing everyday kinds of office tasks to partnering with our board, membership, and her fellow staff members in bold ways for our future. I am so thankful for our small, but mighty, team at WMEA - Scott Ketron (executive director), Erin Dyvig (finances), John Wetherington (student events), and now Beth. Without a dynamic support staff at WMEA it is nearly impossible to move forward in dramatic ways that mirror the realities and strength of our organization – the 10 th largest MEA in our country. The biggest new challenge that we have at WMEA is the formation of an Ad Hoc Committee to take a look at our high school All-State honor group event. Hopefully, you have had a chance to read the supporting document
Voice of Washington Music Educators Association January 2023
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