The Challenge

The first step of our challenge is for you to go and vote. It is super easy and only takes about 30 seconds of your time. All you have to do is:

1. Click this link
2. “Like” Chase Community Giving
3. Vote for MENC

That was the easy, yet necessary part of the challenge. Now for the real challenge. After you have voted, get at least 10 of your Facebook Friends to vote for MENC in the Chase Community Giving campaign! There are quite a few ways to do this:

• Message you friends and tell them why it is important to vote for MENC.
• Invite all of your friends to the Facebook event Vote for MENC in the Chase Community Giving Project and encourage them to do the same with all of their friends.
• Post on your friends’ walls.

Why Vote for MENC?

As part of the requirements to move on to Round 2 of the voting, MENC had to put their Big Idea in words, telling how they would spend the $500,000. Their ideas are very noble ones:

Creativity, discipline, teamwork … just a few of the life-long benefits of music study.  But kids across the country are losing access to music as school programs are cut back or eliminated.   The most affected are those who need it most – kids in underserved communities.  We will use $150,000 to provide 100 grants of $1000 -$2500 to school music programs in the most underserved areas to help students achieve success through music.  We will use $150,000 to develop resources and to provide training to help teachers create music programs with strong foundations and also to help those whose programs are facing budget cuts.  We will use $200,000 for a national web/social media campaign to encourage kids to study music and others to support school music programs.  We will feature teachers and students in programs that have received grants – to show what is at risk and what stands to be gained.  Our BIG IDEA:  The study and making of music by all

In addition, here is a video created by MENC to show their Big Idea:

Do Your Part!

With over 70,000 members in MENC, getting enough votes for this grant shouldn’t be a problem. So now we are calling upon you to do your part to help music education! As of this morning, MENC was in 51st place with a mere 614 votes (1st place has over 5,000 votes). To catch up, we need not only for you to vote, but for you AND 10 of your friends to vote for MENC! In order for MENC to stand a chance, they need YOU to vote and spread the word! With the state of education today, we all know that Music Education can certainly use this money. So please step up to the challenge: Vote and spread the word to win $500,000 for music education!

Related posts:

1. America’s Giving Challenge-Help Win $50,000 for Music Education
2. MENC’s Biennial Conference Approaching
3. Collegiate Leadership Academy at MENC’s Music Ed Week

Music Educators, encourage your students to get on Twitter, and Music Education Students, here is how you can participate!

The criteria to be added to the 100 Music Education Majors Tweeting is as follows:

• Commitment to send at least one Tweet per week
• Commitment to participate when possible in #MusEdChat and other global conversations about Music Ed
• Follow @MusicEdMajor, and the list that we will soon create
• Encouraged to start a blog for more long-form sharing of ideas about Music Ed. Your blog can still be a personal blog if you have already started one, but if not, try and focus it on your experiences in music education!

The project will include prospective music education majors, undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral students in the fields of music education.

Ready to start Tweeting? Find more information on how to get set-up at the 100 Music Ed Majors on Twitter Landing Page! Once you are all set up, send an introductory tweet with the hashtag #100MEMT!

We are very excited about this project and the conversations that will develop between students and teachers! Music Education Majors, please join us!

Related posts:

1. Organization Tips for Music Education Majors
2. First Update to 100 MEMT List
3. November Music Education Blog Carnival

Greetings, folks! Lindsay here!

A new year is upon us, so why not set some New Years Goals for Music Education?!

While reflecting on my experiences with Twitter, the MPLN, and blogging, I have realized that I am doing myself a huge favor by making my education and my independent learning compliment each other. Some of the things we are all doing in #MusEdChat and on Twitter is either foreign or unknown to some students and educators. There is a wealth of knowledge for musicians and educators on Twitter, and for students to participate in those conversations while they pursue their degrees, I believe, is a way to set yourself apart from the rest!

So here’s the goal:

We want to get 100 Music Education Majors tweeting! It’s time to get music students talking to their peers and to experienced teachers! Here’s a brief overview on how the beginning stage will work:

• Andy and I pondered about what to name this project so that it cleverly incorporated the words “tweet,” “music,” etc, but we couldn’t come up with anything so we’re going to open a form for suggestions!
• If you have a suggested name for our project, submit it here by December 20th! Take this time to exercise your creativity!
• Once we have the names, we’ll create a poll for everyone to vote on the project title. The voting will close on New Years Eve so that we will immediately start 2011 with this new endeavor!

Here is the short list of criteria for our list of 100 Music Education Majors on twitter:

• Commitment to send at least one Tweet per week
• Commitment to participate when possible in #MusEdChat and other global conversations about Music Ed
• Follow the list that we create
• Encouraged to start a blog for more long-form sharing of ideas about Music Ed

We can’t wait to see what benefits a growing community of Music Education Majors can have! More to come on all of this in the coming weeks, but until then spread the word to any music education students and encourage them to participate in global conversation with peers and teachers! Don’t forget to submit your suggestions for how we should name our project here by December 20th!

Related posts:

1. 100 Music Education Majors Tweeting!
2. First Update to 100 MEMT List
3. Surviving the First Two Years

The preparations for Music Ed Week 2010 (June 24-29, 2010) have begun in earnest over the past few weeks. MENC recently announced that housing and registration for the conference is open, and on Tuesday, they sent information out regarding a new academy for this year’s event, the “Collegiate Leadership Academy.” This academy is geared specifically towards collegiate members of MENC, and has sessions geared specifically towards future music educators. The (tentative) list of sessions includes:

• “Hero Training: How to Harness Your Super Powers” with Milt Allen, Eastern Illinois University, Charleston
• “Policy and Practice: What Does this Mean and Why Should I Care?” with Lynn Brinckmeyer, Texas State University, San Marcos
• “Nine Liberating Habits of Change” with Scott Shuler (president, MENC), Connecticut Department of Education, Hartford
• “Using Technology to Keep Sane” with Jim Frankel, SoundTree, Melville, NY
• “Can I Do This for Thirty Years?” with Jack Elgin, Oscar Smith High School, Chesapeake, VA

Additionally, registration for Music Ed Week grants you admission to many other fantastic concerts and advocacy events over the course of the week. The other academies that are being offered this year are:

• Choral
• General Music K-12 Technology (keynote by Amy Burns)
• Instrumental, “IN-Ovations” (Teaching techniques and opportunities for teachers of non-traditional curricula)
• Jazz
• Marching Music (registration includes ticket to DCI Show)
• NACWPI (National Association of College Wind and Percussion Instructors)
• New Teachers

Attendance at this conference last year was a very enjoyable experience for me, and one that I would strongly suggest you try to gain. If at all possible, try to find a way to get to Washington, D.C. between June 24 and 29 for this wonderful event! Hopefully, I will also be “live-blogging” the event this year, just as I did last year! Stay tuned for more information regarding this.

Are you already going to Music Ed Week? Let me know in a comment, and we can try to find a time to meet up!

Related posts:

1. MENC’s Music Education Week
2. SoundTree to Sponsor LiveBlog From Music Ed Week
3. Music Ed Week LiveBlog

Anybody who has been around the arts (and especially those who have or will have a carreer in them) knows that arts education needs as much support as possible nowadays. One organization that has done a fantastic job of supporting the arts (specifically music) education is MENC: The National Association for Music Education. MENC stives constantly to increase support for music in our schools, and I am proud to be a collegiate member of such an organization.

Another group that is doing wonders for causes around the globe is the Case Foundation. This month, the Case Foundation is organizing an event called “America’s Giving Challenge.” This challenge encourages people to use their online networks to build support over a specific cause or nonprofit. The challenge also congratulates the cause receiving the most donations over the 30-day period with a $50,000 reward. In addition, each day of the challenge comes with it’s own 24-hour challenge; the cause to receive the most donations over 24 hours (3 pm to 3 pm EST) receives an additional $1,000 prize!

MENC has taken charge in the need for music education advocacy, and has created a few causes to which people can donate for this challenge. Furthermore, MENC is making a push to win the daily award for today (October 19-20).

How Can I Help?

The cause that MENC is pushing for the next 24 hours is called “Advance Music Education.” You can donate through their Facebook page (note: you do NOT need a Facebook account in order to donate!). Any amount that you can contribute-even just $10-will not only help the cause, but will also help MENC try to win more reward money to go towards the cause!

Outside of this 24 hours, the other cause you can donate to on behalf of MENC is “Save School Music.”

If you have any other questions about this challenge, or would like more information on how you can help, check out the “Donate” page of MENC’s website!

Related posts:

1. Vote for MENC in the Chase Community Giving Campaign
2. Music and Arts Enthusiast Award
3. MENC’s Music Education Week

Related posts:

1. SoundTree to Sponsor LiveBlog From Music Ed Week
2. Welcome From Music Ed Week!
3. Collegiate Leadership Academy at MENC’s Music Ed Week

What IS Music Ed Week?

Music Ed Week is an event in the nation’s capital during which thousands of music educators will be gathering for a week of advocacy and professional development. The event has now replaced MENC’s national conference; MENC decided that this week-long event would be a better avenue for gathering music educators of all ages together in a productive way. Some of the advocacy events will include a rally on the steps of the Department of Education and a march to the Capitol Building, where MENC will present Secretary of Education Arne Duncan with their Petition for Equal Access to Music Education. The week will also include a set of concerts, ranging in genres from jazz to concert band to drum and bugle corps, and everything in between! They are sure to be incredible performances.

In addition to these advocacy events and musical performances, Music Ed Week will include five two-day “academies,” which will operate as a normal conference would, with sessions and panels on specific topics within a subject area. The five “academies” include General Music, Jazz, Music Technology, Performance, and a Research Symposium. Registrants can participate in as many academies as they wish, as well as being able to choose which concerts they attend. This ability to completely customize your event is one of the greatest features of the week!

So who can attend?

Registration for Music Ed Week is open to anyone at all, with discounts being offered to MENC members. This includes, of course, collegiate members. Registration costs ranged anywhere from free (for just concert tickets) to hundreds of dollars (for multiple academy registrations). However, MENC announced in late May that registration to Music Ed Week for Collegiate members of MENC will be completely FREE! That’s right, all collegiate members of MENC will pay absolutely nothing to attend the event, no matter how many concerts, events, or academies they wish to register for! I am attending all the concerts, as well as the Music Technology Academy, and am looking forward to the opportunity to not only help advocate for music education, but to learn more about integrating technology into the music curriculum!

What can I do now?

If you’re interested in Music Education Week, there are a few ways you can get involved:

1. Attend the event! It is not too late to register for Music Education Week! Collegiate members can use the collegiate registration form (note that the fees have all been waived-all they need is the record of what events you will attend). If you can make it to Washington this weekend, please leave a comment to this post, and let me know you’ll be there! I would love to meet up with you!
2. Sign the petition. The cornerstone advocacy event of MENC’s week is the presentation of their Petition for Equal Access to Music Education to the Secretary of Education. This petition calls for the inclusion of music education into the core curriculum in America’s public schools. If you haven’t gotten involved yet, signing the online version of this petition is a great way to start getting involved in spreading the word about the need for music in every child’s education. Hurry, though, there are only a few days before the rally!
3. Stay updated! If you aren’t able to attend the event, there are a few ways you can stay updated about what is going on in Washington this weekend. First, MENC’s website will be updated over the course of the weekend with information from the week. Second, attendees are sure to be active on Twitter (a microblogging service I explain in more detail in a personal blog post) throughout the event. You can follow my own Twitter feed, or follow the search page for the “#musicedweek” hash tag, which will be used on posts related to the event. Finally, keep an eye out on MusicEdMajor.net for posts throughout the weekend; I will be making posts over the course of the event recapping significant sessions or activities that I take part in.

You can view more information about this incredible event at MENC’s Music Ed Week page. Don’t forget to leave a comment if you’ll be attending, or if you have any other thoughts or ideas about the event!

Photo credit: Flickr photo by Ehpien

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Related posts:

1. Music Ed Week LiveBlog
2. Collegiate Leadership Academy at MENC’s Music Ed Week
3. SoundTree to Sponsor LiveBlog From Music Ed Week