Bridging the Gap between Middle School and High School: Tips for Ensuring a Seamless Music Education Experience
Clinic Synopsis:
Students continue to participate in our programs because they cannot imagine school without the meaningful engagement that music courses provide yet not all students continue their participation throughout high school. In fact, it is the transition from middle school to high school that has been identified as being the most crucial period in retaining students. The key to successful retention is ACTION. Join this stellar team made up of Greg Bimm, Tim Lautzenheiser, Charlie Menghini, Marcia Neel and Terry Shade to learn about some new ideas and activities that are not only geared for directors, but also for parents, current students, and even principals to ensure a seamless transition from the first day that the student picks up the instrument through high school graduation—and beyond. Copies of this publication will be provided to all attendees loaded onto complimentary flash drives provided by the Music Achievement Council, a 501(c)(6) non-profit.
Marcia Neel
- Biographical Information
Marcia Neel has directed successful secondary music programs in Connecticut, Ohio, Massachusetts, and Nevada. She received her B.M.E. from Miami University and her M.A. in History from the University of Nevada Las Vegas. Marcia served as the Secondary Fine Arts Coordinator for the Clark County School District (CCSD), headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada, for over 14 years. During that time, she led the Secondary Music Education Program to a class count of over 55,000 in 56 middle and 38 high school music programs and over 100,000 in Secondary Fine and Performing Arts overall. Her greatest pride was in knowing that all of the students in each of the district’s secondary schools were provided with an equal opportunity to study music. In 1993, The Disney Channel selected Marcia as their National Performing Arts Teacher of the Year and in 2007, VH1, NAMM and the National School Boards Association awarded the National Distinguished Service to Music Education Award to the CCSD Board of School Trustees. The district employs approximately 500 music educators.
Marcia is an ardent Music Education advocate at the local, state, and national levels and as such, serves on the Supportmusic.com Steering Committee. She also serves NAfME as one of the National Experts for Solutions Music Group. She is lead author of the "Simplemente Mariachi" method series and is highly-regarded for her leadership in implementing over 100 standards-based Mariachi Programs nationwide thus bringing thousands of new students to music-making. She has also authored an array of articles and publications for NAfME, the National Association for Music Education, School Band and Orchestra (SBO) Magazine, Strings Magazine, Parent Magazine and Leadership Magazine.
Marcia also serves as Educational Advisor to The Music Achievement Council, a 501(c)(6) non-profit corporation whose main focus is professional development for instrumental educators to reach and serve more music students. In this capacity, she provides motivating workshops and keynotes all across the country for educators looking to grow their programs and sharpen their pedagogical skills thus helping their students achieve at a higher level.
Greg Bimm - Biographical Information
Greg Bimm has been Director of Bands at Marian Catholic High School since 1977. Under his direction, the Marian Band has grown from 70 to over 280 members, has earned hunreds of awards and honors, and has become one of the premier high school band programs in the United States.
Mr. Bimm has received numerous National Band Association Citations of Excellence, was named the 1983 national winner of the ASBDA Stanbury award for young band directors and received the Sudler Order of Merit from the John Philip Sousa Foundation in 1991 and 1997. In 1995, Mr. Bimm was the first high school band director in twenty-five years to be invited to conduct the Illinois All-state band. In 1999, he was among the first to be awarded the “Mary Hoffman” Award of Excellence by the Illinois Music Educator’s Association, and in 2000 was recognized for contribution and support to arts education by the Illinois Alliance for Arts Education. In 2005, Bimm was elected to the Music for All/Bands of America Hall of Fame and in 2006, was named a Lowell Mason Fellow by the National Association for Music Education. In 2010, Mr. Bimm was given the Distinguished Service Award by the Archdiocese of Chicago and was inducted into the inaugural class of the Illinois State University College of Fine Arts Hall of Fame. In 2012, Bimm was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Music Education by the Vandercook College of Music. Mr. Bimm was elected to membership in the prestigious American Bandmasters Association in 1994.
Mr. Bimm holds degrees from Illinois State and Western Illinois Universities and an honorary doctorate from Vandercook College. His professional affiliations include ABA, ASBDA, IMEA, NAfME, NCBA, NBA, Phi Beta Mu, and Phi Mu Alpha. He has served on the Illinois High School Association Music Advisory Committee, and has served as Band Division chairman, District I and state equipment manager for IMEA. In constant demand, Mr. Bimm has performed as conductor, clinician, adjudicator, drill writer, or music arranger throughout the United States and Canada.
Tim Lautzenheiser - Biographical Information
Tim Lautzenheiser began his teaching career at Northern Michigan University. He then moved to the University of Missouri, and from there to New Mexico State University. During that time, Tim developed highly acclaimed groups in both instrumental and vocal music.
Following his tenure in the college band directing world, he spent three years with McCormick’s Enterprises working as Executive Director of Bands of America. In 1981, Tim created Attitude Concepts for Today, Inc., an organization designed to manage the many requests for teacher inservice workshops, student leadership seminars, and convention speaking engagements focusing on the area of effective leadership training. After thirty-plus years of clinic presentations, some three million students have experienced one of his popular sessions.
Tim presently serves as Vice President of Education for Conn-Selmer, Inc. He is a nationally recognized voice touting the importance of arts education for every child. His books, produced by G.I.A. Publications, Inc., continue to be bestsellers in the educational community. He is also co-author of popular band method, Essential Elements, as well as the Senior Educational Consultant for Hal Leonard, Inc. Tim is also the Senior Educational Advisor for Music for All, and NAMM (The National Association of Music Merchants).
He holds degrees from Ball State University and the University of Alabama; in 1995 he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the VanderCook College of Music. He continues to teach as an adjunct faculty member at: Ball State University, Indiana-Purdue/Ft. Wayne University, and Butler University. In addition, he is a member of the Midwest Clinic Board of Directors and the Western International Band Clinic/American Band College Board of Directors. He is presently the Chair of the National Association for Music Education Music Honor Society (Tri-M).
Charles T. Menghini - Biographical Information
Charles T. Menghini is President, Professor of Music and Director of Bands at VanderCook College of Music in Chicago, Illinois. Prior to his appointment as President in August of 2004, Charlie served as Dean of Undergraduate Studies and Director of Bands. He began his teaching at VanderCook College in 1994 and his teaching has included conducting, organization and administration, curriculum and supervision, brass methods and rehearsal techniques classes.
Charles Menghini has written for professional journals and magazines including the “Instrumentalist” where he serves as a member of the Board of Advisors. He is also co-author of the Essential Elements 2000 Band Method, published by the Hal Leonard Corporation.
Charlie frequently serves as a clinician and adjudicator throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia and New Zealand, and has actively worked with over 350 school and community ensembles from 20 states as well as Canada, Japan, Southeast Asia and Australia. He has conducted all –state ensembles in Wisconsin, North Dakota, Georgia, South Carolina, Nebraska, New York, Virginia, and Minnesota, and has presented numerous clinics at the Midwest Clinic in Chicago and state and regional music educators in-services throughout the world.
Menghini is a Lowell Mason Fellow and is a member of the American Bandmasters Association, College Band Directors National Association, the National Band Association, National Association for Music Education, and Phi Beta Mu. He was inducted into the Alpha Psi Chapter of Pi Kappa Lambda National Honor Society for Music - the highest honor a conservatory faculty can bestow on a student in recognition of outstanding musicianship and scholarly achievement, and is an honorary member of the Xi Kappa (VanderCook College) Chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia.
Charlie is an educational consultant for the Hal Leonard Corporation of Milwaukee, WI, and is an educational member of the Music Achievement Council of the NAMM Foundation. An active performer, Charlie played lead trumpet in the Kansas City Chiefs Professional Football Band for fifteen seasons.
Menghini is a member of the Rotary Club of Chicago Near South and is a Rotary International Paul Harris Fellow. He is past President of the First Friday Club of Chicago and is the official trumpeter for the City Club of Chicago.
Terry Shade - Biographical Information
Terry Shade is an active string educator at Issaquah Middle School in Issaquah, Washington. Nationally recognized as a string specialist and project facilitator at the middle school/junior high level, Ms. Shade has presented workshops and clinics around the United States on the subject of establishing successful beginning string orchestras. She has also conducted all-state and honor orchestras throughout the country. Her teaching experiences prior to Issaquah have included positions in Atlanta, Georgia (Gwinnett County), and in the Clark County School District (Las Vegas, Nevada) where she served as String Project Facilitator. Her leadership subsequently prompted the state of Nevada to honor her with the prestigious Steve Maytan Contribution to Education Award.
Terry is the co-author of the highly acclaimed comprehensive method book "String Basics: Steps to Success for String Orchestra", recently published by Neil A Kjos music. The book is currently being adopted in many states around the country as well as Australia, UK and China. All three levels have been released. Terry has made two recent trips to Scotland, providing teachers with workshops on how to teach in the heterogeneous classroom, versus homogenously. In 2014, she received Educator of the year at Pacific Cascade Middle School, Educator of the year at Issaquah Middle School (2012) and ASTA’s Washington Music Educator's Orchestra Teacher of the year in 2012.
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