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For the Record |
| ISSUE 1 ::
Monday March, 01 2004 |
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From the
President's Desk
James Douthit, President
As temperatures hover around zero, it's
difficult to remember that Spring will come
in the not too distant future, bringing with
it an exciting freshness in all things. As
the flowers begin to blossom, so do the
efforts of our teaching and the efforts of
our students. In the preparation for
recitals and auditions, our students take
the musical notation as their seeds and our
teaching tools as the nourishment to yield
results which no one can truly predict.
Their musical gardens burst with new ideas,
new expressions of beauty, and new heights
of musicality and growth.
PMTA is in the business of fostering renewal
and providing inspiration. Evidence of this
can be found in Betty Zornosa's article in
the January, 2004 edition of Clavier. I urge
you to read this marvelous tribute to the
importance of professional organizations
(local, state, and national) which assist in
fostering growth in new teachers as well as
veteran teachers. Congratulations to Betty
Zornosa and the members of the Westmoreland
Chapter on the publication of this inspiring
article highlighting the importance of our
association.
PMTA is undergoing some of its own internal
changes. At the meeting of the Board in
November, a committee was formed to revise
our bylaws. This revision will bring our
governing rules in line with the MTNA
bylaws, as well as the items that are
necessary to comply with the requirements of
our 501 C-3 nonprofit status. Millie Eben,
Ellen Flint, and I have worked to draft a
new set of bylaws. Millie and Ellen worked
tirelessly around the holiday season to
complete a draft that would be reviewed and
presented in this newsletter. Later in the
newsletter, you will find a draft of the new
bylaws as well as a chart which will help
you compare the old bylaws with the new
bylaws. We are eager to hear your
suggestions. You may email, phone, or send
your written suggestions to either of the
three of us. We plan to present this for
ratification at the Board meeting to be held
the first Saturday in June.
A midwinter blossoming of Pennsylvania's
talents was recently experienced at the
Eastern Division Conference held January
16-18 at West Virginia University. Two of
our own members are the leaders of the
Eastern Division. Deb Ronning is currently
the president. Millie Eben serves as the
president-elect. Congratulations to our
winners and participants. We are so proud of
the efforts of our students and teachers. An
announcement of prize winners and their
teachers can be found later in the
newsletter.
There are several opportunities in the near
future for your furthering your own growth
and development. On March 27, 2004, the MTNA
National Conference will convene in Kansas
City, Missouri. These conferences provide
marvelous new ideas to bring to your
teaching as well as the opportunity to meet
other teachers from across the country.
Prices of flights to Kansas City appear to
be quite reasonable at the moment. Sharing a
room with fellow teachers from your local
association can also make the expenses more
manageable. Don't forget, in many cases you
may also list these expenditures as business
deductions in the filing of your state and
federal taxes.
In June, we will hold our own state level
Leadership Summit. We have many challenges
facing us as we continue to grow and thrive
as an organization. At the November Board
meeting, we decided to devote this time to
some lengthy discussions on issues that
merit our attention. On the Saturday
afternoon of the summit, we will hold the
spring Board meeting. Details of this summit
will be communicated shortly. We are still
in the planning stages with our potential
locations and dates.
As we move through the calendar and approach
the autumn season, you can begin thinking
about harvesting new ideas at our annual
state conference, held this year, November
4-7 at Duquesne University. Nanette Kaplan
Solomon, our vice president for conferences,
and Ken Burky the site coordinator are
already making the logistical arrangements
for our weekend. We have some exciting
activities in the works and look forward to
sharing the details with you shortly. Put
this weekend on your calendar now, so that
you can plan to attend. This is your
opportunity for professional development.
I'm not sure we would want to have surgery
under the knife of a physician who doesn't
regularly attend professional development
seminars; public schools teachers must
undergo consistent professional development;
and so must we as private teachers attend to
our professional development opportunities
and obligations.
As you can see, we have many exciting things
being sown in our PMTA garden even in the
cold of winter. As our activities unfold
throughout the coming spring and summer we
can look to this time as the start of new
things, new activities, and new
opportunities for professional growth.
Fortunately, unlike the fleeting flowers of
spring, the seeds we sow will bloom forever
in the lives of our students making their
lives and the world around them a more
beautiful place.
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