September 26, 2009, clinician Jo Kirk will present on music and movement in early childhood. Please invite daycare operators to attend for in-service credit. Registration begins in the University of Central Missouri Music Lobby at 8:30. The flyer is included in this mailing, but keep checking with us at cmke.net for updates and information!  $25 for OAKE members, $30 for non-members, $10 for students. Bring along a friend who is new to Kodály workshops and you both receive a $5 rebate at the door!

October 16-18, 2009, MKMEA Conference in Milwaukee, WI. Celebrate Oktoberfest in Milwaukee this year and enjoy a great conference at the Hilton Milwaukee City Center. The theme this year is “Brewing up Kodály in Milwaukee.” More information is available at mkmea.oake.org,  including workshops and clinicians, honor choir information, and hotel accommodation information.

January 27-30 (?), 2010, MMEA Conference at Tan-Tar-A. More information should be available soon (?) at mmea.net. CMKE annual dinner (open to all Kodály educators and friends/family) is a great chance to catch up. Time/date/place info will be posted on cmke.net as soon as it’s available.

February 2010 – CMKE workshop TBA. This workshop will be discussed at the general meeting in September following Jo Kirk’s workshop.

March 18-20, 2010, OAKE Conference in Dallas, TX. Visit oake.org for more information.

July 2010 – Kodály Levels at UCM. More info later – keep checking cmke.net and ucmo.edu/kodaly for news and updates.

July/August 2010 – New CMKE officers installation. Next summer we’ll be installing a new slate of officers – which means IT’S YOUR TURN TO VOLUNTEER!!! J It’s easy to say we want workshops, but it takes work to set them up. Your help. By the time we visit Tan-Tar-A in January, the slate of officer candidates will be well underway. If you can share your time and talents to help us accomplish our professional development goals, please offer your name to our President-Elect, Jennifer Zielke, who will be assembling the next CMKE team for the ballots. Elections will be held in the spring, installation in the summer. Please consider offering some of your valuable time to help us provide quality, Kodály-based music education and professional development throughout Central Missouri! CMKE NEEDS YOU!!

Have you checked the website lately?

It’s been pretty quiet at cmke.net this summer. The main communication we’ve had at the website was from our host. cmke.net will no longer be a free website, but the annual fee is not that steep. The executive board decided to pay the fee and keep the website for one more year. During that time we’ll see how much traffic the site gets to determine whether it’s worth maintaining for the future. So here’s your chance! Visit cmke.net and drop us a line through the Contact Us page. Let us know what you like and want to see and use there.

Best Practices page – Got Ideas?

At the last general meeting, members suggested adding a “best practices” page to the website for members to share ideas, lessons, etc. Well, folks, that page – called Lesson Lynx (because we’re an alliterative bunch) has been in place and waiting for your input since September 2008 – so let’s hear from you!!! If you have an idea to share, email it to us through the Contact Us page at cmke.net and we’ll be happy to post for all to share!

We want your input

CMKE is your organization. We have the unique opportunity to use this organization to network with fellow music educators who share a specific and wonderful music education methodology. In order to provide high quality, meaningful professional development, we need your ideas. Tell us what you’re doing in your classroom and in your district. Visit the website, drop us an e-mail, write to an officer or just give us a call. Get involved in whatever way you can. We’re all busy – many hands make light work. Thanks for helping us stay connected. J