Teachers. Choir director. Singer. Manager. Stage crew. These are just a few of the many hats we all learn to wear as choral educators. The thought of adding another task to our list often seems daunting, and a little intimidating, especially when it includes words like “legislation,” “Capitol Hill,” “lobbyist,” or other congressional lingo. In […]
advocacy
“Advocacy” = “A story”
“Advocacy.” Sometimes it is an intimidating word. It’s not too fancy, not too hard to spell, but it can feel a bit daunting. We’ve all heard situations where colleagues had to advocate to keep to their programs or where larger communities had to find the data to fight for the arts. Those can be intimidating […]
Advocacy, Collaboration, and . . . moving from survival to vision
It’s been an interesting start to the semester, yet again, but we are resilient and we keep showing up for choir and our singers. Go us! However, there is always that chance for budget cuts, restrictions, or worse, canceled programs. With decreasing numbers, uncertainty, and pandemic fatigue, how do we move from survival mode to […]
Advocacy, Collaboration, and … Podcasts!
Finding yourself traveling this season? How about a podcast to keep you company on that long drive? The ACDA Advocacy and Collaboration (A&C) Committee has been curating advocacy and collaboration-focused episodes on the Music (ed) Matters podcast as a place for members to spark ideas, learn, and get invigorated. The A&C series kicked off with […]
Everyday Advocacy for Your Choral Program
By Karen Bruno What is advocacy? Advocacy is an opportunity to share with other people, many of whom are decisionmakers in some way, why choral music matters—to us, to our singers, and to the world. Advocacy should not be a term that frightens us. It should be a term that inspires us to explain to […]
Stories of Newness: Healing and Reimagining with Jazzmone Sutton (Advocacy)
Jazzmone Sutton, now the State Advocacy Engagement Manager for National Association for Music Education, was teaching elementary music when her school shifted to virtual teaching. Due to concerns about screen time, there weren’t formal music classes, so she provided music resources for students. Pre-COVID, she implemented “Technology Fridays,” which proved to be helpful for online […]