MTNA membership: priceless.(Music Teachers National Association)

When I began my teaching career 37 years ago as a very young professional right out of college, my department chair advised me that it was important to join MTNA, a respected professional organization. Wanting to start off on the right foot, I took his advice and joined and, as so often happens, I was quickly given a local association job. I never imagined that years later I would be given new duties to perform within MTNA, this time the duties of the MTNA President-elect.

Throughout all these years MTNA has been an important part of my life. When I moved from Illinois to Ohio and transferred my state membership, it was wonderful to immediately have a circle of professionals who embraced me as a colleague and within a very short time, became dear friends.

As I pay my dues each year, I realize that what I am gaining far surpasses the amount on the check I write. There are the inspiring presentations given at our local association fall and spring conferences, the many performance opportunities open to my students--competitions, recitals and master classes, the stimulating sessions at the state and national conferences, the public recognition of being a certified teacher, and so on. Thinking back to the first national conference I attended as a new MTNA member, I was in awe of the many famous artists and clinicians in attendance that I had previously only read about or heard in recordings. Here they were--at the MTNA National Conference. With a myriad of membership benefits, far more than space will allow me to list, teachers can take advantage of those that match their needs.

This fall I was witness to a more ...