Damian Johnson
President
The 2020-21 school year is about to begin, and our NEKMEA Board has been meeting regularly to provide our members the best NEKMEA experience for their students. As many school districts across the state are making plans for the upcoming school year with COVID-19 in mind, so is NEKMEA. A couple major changes this year are below.
The NEKMEA District Meeting originally scheduled for Monday, September 14, 2020, at Free State High School in Lawrence, KS, will now take place via Zoom. The meeting will start at 6:00 pm with our new teachers and mentors. The General Meeting will start at 7:00 pm with comments from the NEKMEA President and Executive Director. At 7:30 pm, we will break off into Band, Choir and Orchestra meetings. The district audition cuts will be released at this meeting as well as voting for chair elect positions. Between now and September 14, please nominate Outstanding Teachers and Administrators from our district. You can access this through the KMEA members-only portion of the website, https://members.ksmea.org/. Log in, hover over “Districts” and click on “NE District,” then click on “Awards.” There, you will be able to nominate outstanding teachers, young teachers and administrators.
NEKMEA District Auditions originally scheduled for Saturday, November 7, 2020, at Eudora Middle and High School, will now take place virtually. The NEKMEA “Shelter-In-Place” committee was formed to address the needs of the virtual audition. High School Chairs will have information on how the auditions will take place at the NEKMEA District Meeting on Monday, September 14 via Zoom.
In other news from NEKMEA not dealing with COVID 19, the NEKMEA Board voted to change the format of the 3 high school district bands. We will have a 5A-6A Band (Red), a 1A-4A Band (Gold) and a 1A-6A Band (Blue). Students will be placed in the bands in an alternating fashion, making all three groups equal.
I would like to thank the NEKMEA Board for their help during this uncertain time. NEKMEA Board Members’ contact information is located here at https://nekmea.org/?section=about&page=officers. On behalf of the NEKMEA Board, I wish you well on the beginning of your school year. Stay positive, passionate and safe during this time.
