President-Elect Page

          Lisa Roebuck, KET President Elect                                            

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Summer Greetings!  This has been a most unusual Texas summer.  Never have I seen a July with so much rain, two digit temperatures and green, green, everywhere.

 Recently, I attended the closing ceremony of a Kodály summer training program.  It is always inspiring to see a dedicated group of teachers come together, give up their free time and continue the life-long learning process.  Not only are these teachers learning how to better instruct their students, they are continuing to develop their own musical skills.  Who can honestly say they don’t need to sing in a choir to understand more completely how students learn in their choir?  Who honestly does not need more time to refine their singing, ear-training and conducting skills?  The dedicated teachers who attend these trainings and the skillful instructors who lead them continue to be an inspiration to many. It is a bit mind-boggling when you think of how many young lives these teachers positively impact as they carry this knowledge back to their area of Texas.

 The KET executive board recently held its summer meeting.  It was my first board meeting and it proved to be most exciting and enlightening.  The board contains bright people with forward-thinking ideas, many of which you will read about in our upcoming issues of the KET encounter. 

 As you look forward to a new school year, here is an interesting resource to check out.  On the TMEA website http://www.tmea.org – check out the new TMEA/TMAC K-12 Music Curriculum.  This document is a wonderful resource that contains specificity of the TEKS and will be useful as you develop your yearly plans for the upcoming academic year.  KET members Ann Burbridge, Vivian Ferchill, Kathy Kuddes and I were part of the committee who developed the elementary portion of this document for the state.  Assessments are now being developed to correspond to this state curriculum.  KET members Patty Moreno, John Gillian, and I are serving on the state committee to develop the elementary music assessments.  Our KET president Ann Burbridge is serving on the committee to help develop the secondary vocal assessments.  

 Be sure to check out the upcoming KET sponsored fall workshops across the state, many which are listed in the Encounter.  These opportunities are a wonderful jump start to the school year.  May all of you enjoy some precious time with those dear to you as the summer comes to an end. 

                                           Lisa Roebuck