Nominees for secretary/treasurer.(Ginger Yang Hwalek and Cheryl Pachak-Brooks are nominees for secretary/treasurer)

Ginger Yang Hwalek, NCTM, a native of South Bend, Indiana, began piano studies at age 4 and has been involved in music ever since as a pianist, violist, teacher and conductor. She earned a bachelor of music degree from Indiana University and a master of music degree from Wichita State University, both in piano performance. In 1988, she completed a doctor of music degree in piano chamber music and accompanying from Northwestern University.

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Hwalek has taught at Illinois State University and Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp, Michigan. She has conducted several piano monster concerts at Plymouth State University in New Hampshire as well as in Essex Junction, Vermont, sponsored by the Greater Burlington MTA. In collaboration with soprano Nancy Ellen Ogle, Hwalek has performed and recorded three CDs of contemporary American art songs under the Capstone Records label.

At the University of Maine, Hwalek teaches class piano, keyboard musicianship, music history, co-directs the chamber music program and is the director of Maine Summer Youth Music. Her involvement in MTNA began when she moved to Bangor, Maine, 26 years ago. "I knew then that the move to Bangor was going to be a permanent one so I wanted to set down roots. The first thing I did was to join MTNA so I could meet other teachers," she says.

Hwalek has never looked back. She has held many varied positions within the state organization as state certification chair, newsletter editor, vice president for membership and president. Within the Eastern Division, she has held the positions of Junior High Competitions chair, Competitions chair and president. On the national level, she has served on the Board of Directors as the Eastern Division representative and recently completed a three-year term as coordinator for the Senior Performance Competitions. In 2006, she was recognized as MTNA's Teacher of the Year.

"MTNA has been a very important force throughout my entire teaching career. It's all about relationships: relationships between student and teacher, relationships between colleagues, relationships between state boards and local associations, and finally relationships between the national board and the entire MTNA membership. I hope that with the kind of background I've had in MTNA, "training" if you will, that by being on the Board I can help to positively nurture the relationship between all of us with the same ...