GMEA
I've been in GMEA since my first year of teaching, and have served in various capacities in several local districts, and I have been in districts 1,2,3,7,8,9 (when it included current districts 13 and 14),11, and 14 (when it was 13). During that time, I have hosted District Honor Band/All-State tryouts, served as Vice-Chairman of a district, and, of course, judged numerous tryouts and solo/ensemble events.
When I was in college, and initially heard about MENC and GMEA, I was philosophically opposed. Why should I have to join an organization just to participate in their events? Of course, as I left college, I saw the fallacy of my thinking and realized the reasons for this policy.
However, I have a few "beefs" with GMEA over certain policies and procedures they have. The first is easily solvable. Many years ago, before email and the internet, it made sense to require LGPE or All-State registrations to be submitted months in advance, as everything was done my US Mail. Now that we are in the internet age, why is this still a requirement? Now that many schools have switched to the 4X4 block scheduling, it makes even less sense to submit LGPE registration in November.
For those of you who don't know, LGPE stands for Large Group Performance Evaluation, what we used to call Festival. The registration is due in November, and the cost is based on the number of students participating. In the 4X4 block scheduling, students take 4 classes from August through December (first semester) and then 4 DIFFERENT classes from January through May. While schedules may be set during the summer, it is possible that the second semester may be changed. And the band you have in November is not the same that you will have in January, at least not in most places. That makes registering for LGPE in November largely a guessing game, both on numbers and ability level and instrumentation of the group. The simple solution is for registration to take place at the end of January, when band directors have a better grasp of their numbers and ability level. With all registration done online, organizers will have the info nearly instantly, and still have plenty of time to set up schedules. Admittedly, this may create a new set of problems: how many days to schedule judges for, for example, but I think, by this point, you can base that off historical data: how many groups have participated in the last 2, 3, or 5 years.
My second problem with GMEA is the disconnect from what they say and what they do. When I was Vice-Chairman, I went to the statewide meeting in place of the District Chairman, and listened as they lamented getting people to sign up and follow through on a number of things- judging the state level of All-State auditions being among them. Up to that time, I had never been asked to judge at the state level, though I had always wanted to. One year, at the district auditions, I checked the little box on EVERY audition sheet that asked if I was willing to judge at the state level (that box isn't there anymore). I never got called. I brought this to the attention of GMEA several times, but still no call. At this statewide meeting, during one of the breaks, I talked with the All-State organizer and expressed this concern. I have since judged or monitored several times. I wonder how often this has happened to others?
Finally, I want to address the GMEA In-Service Conference. Every year, in January, the members gather to address issues facing music education, and to learn from our colleagues various ways to improve our craft. There have been many, many excellent presentations through the years. About halfway through my career, I proposed a clinic on teaching horn players. My reason for doing so was threefold. First, I wanted a chance to give back to my profession. Second, I had noticed that a lot of horn players that I saw in district level auditions did not know proper technique. I surmised that many band directors simply don't know enough about the horn to teach it properly. Lastly, I had not seen a clinic presentation on the horn for many years.
My proposal was rejected for several years in a row, but I noticed that many of the clinics were the same people over and over (still none on the horn). It seemed that only those considered "prominent" were allowed to present. I decided to test this theory. One year, I submitted my horn proposal, but I also submitted a proposal that was a joint presentation with the band director from a prominent state university. Guess which one got picked? It was a great presentation (we worked well together), but I thought it might lead to me getting approved later, since I had done a successful presentation. No dice. My horn proposal has been rejected every year for at least 15 years, maybe longer. However, a proposal on teaching horn was approved one year, to be led by the horn teacher from UGA, but ended up being cancelled at the last minute- weather or something.
There are a lot of people who want to give back to their profession. I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels this way. But I would really like for GMEA to think outside the box and consider that many of us without the prominent resume' can contribute to the organization.
Until next time, may your day and your loved ones be blessed!
When I was in college, and initially heard about MENC and GMEA, I was philosophically opposed. Why should I have to join an organization just to participate in their events? Of course, as I left college, I saw the fallacy of my thinking and realized the reasons for this policy.
However, I have a few "beefs" with GMEA over certain policies and procedures they have. The first is easily solvable. Many years ago, before email and the internet, it made sense to require LGPE or All-State registrations to be submitted months in advance, as everything was done my US Mail. Now that we are in the internet age, why is this still a requirement? Now that many schools have switched to the 4X4 block scheduling, it makes even less sense to submit LGPE registration in November.
For those of you who don't know, LGPE stands for Large Group Performance Evaluation, what we used to call Festival. The registration is due in November, and the cost is based on the number of students participating. In the 4X4 block scheduling, students take 4 classes from August through December (first semester) and then 4 DIFFERENT classes from January through May. While schedules may be set during the summer, it is possible that the second semester may be changed. And the band you have in November is not the same that you will have in January, at least not in most places. That makes registering for LGPE in November largely a guessing game, both on numbers and ability level and instrumentation of the group. The simple solution is for registration to take place at the end of January, when band directors have a better grasp of their numbers and ability level. With all registration done online, organizers will have the info nearly instantly, and still have plenty of time to set up schedules. Admittedly, this may create a new set of problems: how many days to schedule judges for, for example, but I think, by this point, you can base that off historical data: how many groups have participated in the last 2, 3, or 5 years.
My second problem with GMEA is the disconnect from what they say and what they do. When I was Vice-Chairman, I went to the statewide meeting in place of the District Chairman, and listened as they lamented getting people to sign up and follow through on a number of things- judging the state level of All-State auditions being among them. Up to that time, I had never been asked to judge at the state level, though I had always wanted to. One year, at the district auditions, I checked the little box on EVERY audition sheet that asked if I was willing to judge at the state level (that box isn't there anymore). I never got called. I brought this to the attention of GMEA several times, but still no call. At this statewide meeting, during one of the breaks, I talked with the All-State organizer and expressed this concern. I have since judged or monitored several times. I wonder how often this has happened to others?
Finally, I want to address the GMEA In-Service Conference. Every year, in January, the members gather to address issues facing music education, and to learn from our colleagues various ways to improve our craft. There have been many, many excellent presentations through the years. About halfway through my career, I proposed a clinic on teaching horn players. My reason for doing so was threefold. First, I wanted a chance to give back to my profession. Second, I had noticed that a lot of horn players that I saw in district level auditions did not know proper technique. I surmised that many band directors simply don't know enough about the horn to teach it properly. Lastly, I had not seen a clinic presentation on the horn for many years.
My proposal was rejected for several years in a row, but I noticed that many of the clinics were the same people over and over (still none on the horn). It seemed that only those considered "prominent" were allowed to present. I decided to test this theory. One year, I submitted my horn proposal, but I also submitted a proposal that was a joint presentation with the band director from a prominent state university. Guess which one got picked? It was a great presentation (we worked well together), but I thought it might lead to me getting approved later, since I had done a successful presentation. No dice. My horn proposal has been rejected every year for at least 15 years, maybe longer. However, a proposal on teaching horn was approved one year, to be led by the horn teacher from UGA, but ended up being cancelled at the last minute- weather or something.
There are a lot of people who want to give back to their profession. I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels this way. But I would really like for GMEA to think outside the box and consider that many of us without the prominent resume' can contribute to the organization.
Until next time, may your day and your loved ones be blessed!
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