Colorado Music Educators Association affirms that Black Lives Matter. We are deeply saddened by the killings of George Floyd, Breanna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and countless others who have suffered. CMEA condemns any actions of racism and intolerance due to the color of one's skin.
The purpose of our organization is to promote and improve music education in the state of Colorado. As teachers, it is our responsibility to include and support each child and young person in finding their voice using music to share their experience. As stated by the National Association for Music Education in its statement "What We Believe: Black Lives Matter," "...we know that music is important in student lives-and we know that listening to music and making music are things that people do when they are experiencing strong emotions, including grief and anger."
Change starts with us, as teachers, in the music classroom and as an organization with our policies. Our organization seeks to lift the voices and experiences of Black people, Brown people, Indigenous people, People of Color, and other marginalized communities. CMEA will immediately initiate a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Task Force to advise the organization on ways to support music teachers in providing safe and inclusive spaces, developing intercultural understandings, and recognizing inequities, both in our classrooms and our professional organization.
CMEA is committed to listening, growing, and learning to ensure all people see themselves, hear themselves, and find meaning in music education.
CMEA Honor Awards and 25-Year Service Award
Information on CMEA Honor Awards & 25 year Service Award
The time will arrive soon to nominate your colleagues for the 2021 CMEA Honor Awards. Nominations open on August 1, 2020 and close on September 16, 2020. The timeline for submission of awards along with a link to each award nomination form is listed below. CMEA Past President- Butch Eversole has agreed to serve as the Honor Awards Chair. Butch would appreciate having all forms submitted in a PDF format by scanning and emailing the form directly to him at raleighIV@gmail.com.
Self-nominations for the CMEA 25-year Service Award will also follow the same timeline as the above awards. The only difference is that all completed forms should be scanned and emailed in PDF format to officecmeaonline@gmail.com.
Take note - if you have already submitted a nomination form using last year’s form CMEA will honor these nomination forms and there is no need to resubmit a new form.
RevisedTimelines for the 2021 CMEA Conference
CMEA Leadership continues to monitor developments with COVID-19 and recommendations from the CDC-Colorado Department of Health- and State and Local orders. Any revisions to this timeline will be communicated as changes occur, at this time the CMEA Board of Directors is still planning for an in-person conference in January 2021.
The Call for Proposal form for submission of presentations for the annual CMEA Conference is now available by clicking the link below. CMEA will continue to monitor current guidelines and policies regarding COVID 19 throughout the summer and fall. At the current time CMEA is planning to hold an in-person conference January 27th – 30th, 2021. The CMEA Board may make the decision to move the conference to a virtual format, and you will be asked to acknowledge in your submission that you would be willing to present in a virtual format if needed. The deadline for submissions is July 31, 2020 at 11:59 pm.
August 5th – August 18th – council members review and vote on proposals
August 19th – August 25th chairs make final selections and indicate final selections in the goggle document.
August 26th – 31st – Chairs notify those selected and not selected to
present a conference session and begin plugging sessions into a predetermined conference schedule from the June meeting.
Timeline for Performing Group Submissions –
August 1, 2020 through September 16, 2020 – submission window opens
Late September/early October (date to be determined soon) – CMEA
selects performing groups and selected directors are notified
Revised Timeline for Honor Awards and Hall of Fame Award
Nominations –
August 1, 2020 through September 16, 2020 – nomination process
open’s and forms can be located on the web site under the “General
Information” tab- Awards. If you have already submitted a nomination
with last year’s form the Honor Awards Chair will accept this form and
there is no need to submit a new form.
October 15, 2020 – Individuals receiving awards are notified
Timeline for Conference Early Registration –
Conference Early Registration Opens – August 1, 2020
Conference Early Registration Closes – January 2, 2021
Greetings from Tri-M,
The 2019-2020 school year has come to an end. For many it came to an end when schools shut down in March. Tri-M did not close down. Chapters across the country held virtual inductions. Facebook posts of directors delivering chords to students houses while practicing social distancing. Emails from directors saying “I want to start a chapter next year”. All of these heartfelt examples show the passion and dedication to Tri-M Music Honor Society.
I hope your chapter was able to provide some closure to the end of your year. As I mentioned before your students need Tri-M now more than ever. They need that sense of belonging. Tri-M brings people closer together.
I am sure you are asking about Tri-M day in January. Plans right now are still moving forward to plan a state conference. That being said we all know that plans change daily and sometimes hourly due to COVID-19. I am working on Tri-M day 2021 almost daily. Keep checking the website www.cmeaonline.org for more information. Do you have a topic you would like to present at Tri-M day? Do you know someone that would make a good clinician? Have them fill out an application. Check www.cmeaonline.org after June 1st for more information.
Regardless of whether or not we can hold our state conference Tri-M can still be a part of your program. https://www.musichonors.com/educators/ You will find information here on starting a chapter. Please feel free to reach out to me with any questions you have. Remember Tri-M is what you make it. Your students will thank you for providing the opportunity!
Be safe and stay healthy,
Your students need you now more than ever !
Sincerely,
Michelle Ewer
Colorado Tri-M Chair
All-State and Clinic/Conference Medals and
Solo/Ensemble Festival Medals
Did you know that you can purchase CMEA Solo and Ensemble Awards even if you did not attend a CHSAA Solo and Ensemble Festival? If you hosted a regional Solo and Ensemble Festival or a county of district festival you can still order CMEA Solo and Ensemble medals.
Have you participated in a CHSAA Large Group Festival and put off ordering the award plaque? You can still order plaques for past festivals.
Did you have students in All-State Jazz Band, All-State Jazz Choir, All-State Orchestra, or the Elementary, Middle School, or High School All-State Choirs? If you did this might be a great time to honor these students with an All-State Medal. You can order these medals for your students and have them shipped directly to your home address. This is a great way to recognize your students for their accomplishment.
Have you thought about stocking up on Solo and Ensemble Medals, All-State Medals, or Clinic/Conference Performing Group medals? This might be a good time to spend remain budget dollars to stock up on these medals before your funds run out.
All award orders can be placed by going to the CMEA web site at cmeaonline.org, clicking on the General Information Tab and Clicking on the Order CMEA Awards Tab. All transactions can be completed on-line, including credit card payment.
Do you have questions regarding CMEA awards? You can direct those questions to CMEA Awards Manager- Ken Anderson at awardscmeaonline@gmail.com
Colorado Music Educators Association www.cmeaonline.org