Be a StAR!(Music Teachers National Association's educational grants for deserving students)

One of the most gratifying things I do in my faculty position is advising the Plymouth State University MTNA Collegiate Chapter. Our chapter actually has two advisors, Constance Chesebrough and myself. In 1993, we helped the students organize the new chapter and oversaw the creation of the bylaws and their recognition on campus.

The students were instrumental in originally organizing themselves and for presenting the bylaws to the Student Senate on campus. Once recognized as an official organization, they were able to request funding through the Student Senate each year. This money, as well as that raised from chapter fundraisers, can be used for bringing speakers to campus, travel to various local and regional events, sponsoring activities for their own students and even hosting a dinner each semester for themselves. As a chapter, we have traveled within New England to observe teachers in various settings, from independent studios to community music schools.

Besides the yearly budget that we receive from the Student Senate, all campus organizations are able to request additional money to attend national conferences and workshops. Our chapter has attended four MTNA National Conferences, most recently in Denver. Four students were able to go to Denver and received complete expense reimbursement from the Student Senate. The students themselves did all the work from filling out forms to presenting themselves in front of the Senate to request the financial support. The role of advisor has been mostly to support the chapter in their decisions and to give advice when asked.

For the past three years our chapter has received PSU Alumni Grants to bring alumni back to campus to interact with the current members. These returning alums have conducted master classes for younger students studying with chapter members. They've also introduced us to Music and Motion classes, music therapy, games for young music students, studio policies, how to work with parents, how to balance teaching in the public schools with independent teaching/performing, and, most recently, how to teach improvisation to young students. I've had the pleasure of setting up the contacts between the current students and the alumni. It's a pure joy for me to see the alums return to campus and to see how much they have grown personally, but most especially professionally.

I have seen so much growth in the students who have held offices in our ...