Maine Motif Issue 3, Vol. II (Spring 2018) | Page 9

Overwhelmed? Need Advice?
….Here’s an Idea…
By Sue Barre, MMEA President

While at the District 4 elementary festival meeting, a question came up: What can we do
to help each other establish or grow jazz band and choir programs in our schools? This
got the wheels turning in my mind. There are festivals in each area of the state that serve
different areas of interest - jazz festivals, large group festivals, auditioned honors
festivals, nominated festivals… There are so many great things happening!
Even with all the great things we are doing, what I hear most often is how overwhelmed
we are. As music educators, we are often islands in our buildings or even in our district.
All of our days are full, often over-full, so the task of starting a new program or growing
a current program in your school can be daunting. What if MMEA could provide you
with a resource: an expert to consult for advice on some of the issues facing us in our
programs?
Here is my idea:
There are seven districts in MMEA . One can easily identify at least seven “areas” of our
programs, depending on the level we teach. Perhaps you have a question regarding your
jazz band rhythm section? Starting a string program? How to teach a heterogenous
versus a homogeneous elementary band class?
MMEA would hire experienced educators for each area for a school year and pay these
“experts” a consultant fee. Based on the chart below— a hypothetical scenario—teaching
in district 4, I would have access to the expert in Jazz Choir for 2018-19 via email. I also
could hire the expert to come to my school for a rate of $30 an hour and MMEA would
pay the expert milage and provide hours for recertification for the requesting teacher
and expert teacher. The “Areas of Expertise” would rotate through the districts each
year.