Greetings from the KMEA State Mentoring Co-Chairs. We wish you all the best for the beginning of this new school year! Sean Boller is the mentoring co-chair for Western Kansas – Northwest and Southwest districts; Cindy Blagg is the mentoring co-chair for Central Kansas – Northcentral and Southcentral districts; and Mark Gard is the mentoring co-chair for Eastern Kansas – Northeast, East Central, and Southeast districts.
This month KMEA will be hosting the KCOMTEPS / Mentoring / Tri-M Fall Summit. This in-person event will be held on Sunday, September 27, at Mayberry Cultural and Fine Arts Magnet Middle School, 207 S Sheridan St, in Wichita. Registration is available on the KMEA website under the “Conference” tab or Mentoring Fall Summit. The fee for the conference is $10 until September 15, when the fee will go up to $15. A light breakfast and lunch will be provided, courtesy of the Kansas Music Merchants Association and Damm Music.
Registration starts at 9:00 with a light breakfast available at 9:30. At 10:00 will be a Keynote session featuring Dr. Catheryn Foster, Associate Professor of Practice and Program Director for Graduate Studies in Music Education at Virginia Tech. After the keynote, the Mentoring Network will separate from the collegiate and Tri-M participants for sessions specifically geared towards first through fifth year teachers: a Roundtable Discussion on “Connect and Reflect”; an overview of KSHSAA and KMEA; and Tips from the Trenches, where several veteran teachers will share information and experiences. At all the sessions, there will be time for asking questions. Our portion of the Fall Summit will wrap up by 3:00 but you can stay longer and socialize, network, or ask further questions.
The KMEA Mentoring Network is designed to support first through fifth year music educators by connecting them with experienced music educators who work alongside them as a resource and mentor. Program activities include one-to-one mentoring, district and regional mentoring events, and virtual opportunities for mentoring support. In addition, the Network supports experienced teachers who are new to Kansas. We encourage all new teachers to take advantage of this resource.
Kansas is divided into seven districts, each of which has their own mentoring chair, and those chairs can be contacted through the KMEA state or district websites: Joey Nickols (NW), Cory Klaker (SW), Colleen Rodriguez (NC), Verlinda Stone (SC), Mindy Fry (EC), and Gae Phillips (SE).
