High School Honor Group Information

The corrected versions of the 2008 SCKMEA Orchestra string section are now posted at the High School Orchestra page, as are the rosters for the high school bands and choirs at their respective pages. A detailed schedule for that day and further information will be coming soon, so check back often!

SCKMEA President-Elect Online Voting Procedures

Beginning with this President-Elect election cycle, the Executive Board has decided to adopt an email based voting system, with the intent of increasing participation in the process. To be eligible to vote, you must be a KMEA/MENC member, and will need to provide your KMEA/MENC ID number as part of your information in your email. Please follow the instructions below carefully and exactly, as not doing so can cause your vote to be disqualified. Only the SCKMEA webmaster will have access to the complete set of data, for verification purposes. The SCKMEA webmaster will release the results of the vote tallies ONLY, with identifying information removed, to the Executive Board for announcement at the December 6th Mini-Convention at Wichita State University. Voting closes at 11:59 pm on Sunday, November 23rd.

• Click here to read the candidate biographies.
• Send an email FROM YOUR OFFICIAL SCHOOL EMAIL to vote@sckmea.org that contains the following information.
• The name of the candidate you wish to vote for
• Your name, position, district, and building(s)
• Your KMEA/MENC ID number
• Your vote will be disqualified if any of this information is incomplete and/or if the vote comes from an email that is NOT an official school email. If you have any questions about the voting procedure, please contact webmaster@sckmea.org for further assistance.

Message From The President

Dear Colleagues:

Several days ago, my wife and I were in one of those large discount warehouse outlets where you can buy business and teaching supplies. I happened to overhear three women, all of whom were obviously teachers because of the nature of their conversation. They were bemoaning the fact that summer was far too short, their class of 22 was far too large, and had far too many non-achieving students. They were going to have only one "para" and only one teaching assistant, the school day had been extended by ten minutes, and, well, you can imagine the tone and drift of the conversation. We have heard many of them ourselves, all together too often, in the workrooms of our schools.

I don't know what it is about music teachers. They are in the office, checking with the councilor about their "numbers" 30 minutes after enrollment, hoping for a band of 70, or a choir of 84, or working the halls for new recruits to the viola section. They are on a first name basis with the custodians and cooks, because those are the people they greet every morning when they come into work, and they are the staff members who check that the doors are locked and lights are out when they leave because they are quite often the last out of the building in the evening. They believe to the end that each and every one of their students can make music, and are certain that all of them will be better because of the experience. They can be found at clinics and summer school and concerts and reading sessions, and just hanging out with their fellows at the nearest music store throughout the summer. And they get to know and care for each other, and about each other's music programs.

So, welcome back! It has been far too long since we got together with our young musicians. We are most fortunate to get to do what we have a great passion for; making music with young people.

We at South Central Kansas Music Educators Association (SCKMEA) want to help you, and encourage you, and wish you well in this years' music journey with your students. If you are not a member, please learn about us (sckmea.org), and give us a try. If you are a brand new music educator, or one who is new to our district, we want to get to know you, and will supply you with a mentor if you wish. Just let us know. (mentor@sckmea.org) We hope that the clinics and events that we host will provide many opportunities for your students to grow, excel, and get to know other young musicians, and, that they will also be a time for you and your fellow teachers to exchange ideas and experiences.

I wish you all an exceptional musical year.

Mike Connell, President
South Central KMEA

Upcoming Events/Important Dates/Invoice Creator

• December 6
  District Mini-Convention
  High School 56A & 1234A High School Honor Band Performances
  High School Honor Women's Chorus & Mixed Choir Performances
  High School Honor Orchestra Performance
  8:00 am at Wichita State University
• Need to create an invoice for your business office? Click here for an SCKMEA invoice that is an interactive Microsoft Excel file. Just fill in your school information and the number of students in the appropriate group, and the form will calculate your fees. If you don't have Microsoft Excel, click here to download a printable PDF version of the invoice that you can fill in by hand.