FCMEA Meeting

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Malone Golf Club

Call to Order

Meeting was called to order at 4:06PM by Mindy Poupore.

Present: Mindy Poupore (Malone) Jeffrey Soper (Malone)

Dana Beyer (St. Regis Falls) Paul Jadlos (Brushton)

Cindy Healy (Salmon River) Laura Tarbell (Mohawk School)

Justin Haan (Salmon River) Sunny O’Brien (St. Regis Falls)

Gayle Peryea (Chatueagay) Mike Trudo (Chateaugay)

Jodi Childs (Malone)

Acceptance of Minutes

Sunny made a motion to accept the minutes (seconded by Cindy). All in favor, none opposed, none abstained. (Apologies from the secretary for misspelling Sunny’s name.)

Reports

Treasurer’s Report: (presented by Paul)

- Paul was nervous after last year’s festival but is more optimistic now.

- Handed out invoices to all of the schools ($125)

Secretary’s Report: Jeff S. reported that all future minutes and forms will be available online at his website under the FCMEA tab (lower left hand corner).

http://www.teacherweb.com/ny/malonecentralschool/jeffreypsoper

Old Business

NYSSMA Summer Conference

- Mindy and Dana attended the county meeting.

o Winter Conference December 4^th through the 7^th in Rochester

o New NYSSMA Website

- Dana is representing the North Country on the Diversity Committee

o NYSSMA would like to assist Rural Schools and create opportunities that may not exist like they do for Urban areas

o Dana asked us to think about what we would like to see NYSSMA do to assist rural schools. (i.e.- workshop, presenter, concert). This would be a one-time deal.

NYSBDA

- Mindy is now the 1^st Vice President for the organization (way to go!). She discussed that NYSBDA has commissioned a work that any school can support. When you offer your support (financial) you will get your band’s name on the piece.

New Business

Area All-State

- Will be held on November 21^st and 22^nd @ Saranac Central School

- Jeanette Woodruff is the General Chairperson

- Group Chairs: Steve Collier- Mixed Chorus, Karin Ryan- Women’s Chorus, Dana Beyer- Concert Band, Brian Baker- Jazz Band

- Reminder that applications are due by Friday, October 3^rd.

- Applications can be sent to the general chair, group chairs or to Mindy or Dana by the above date and they will bring them to the selection meeting with them.

Conference ALL-STATE

- 97 is the cut-off grade for acceptance into Conference All-State.

- Leanne LaMondie will be attending her second All-State on the bass clarinet

- Discussion was held that it is an All-Eastern year as well. Exact dates and location were unknown..

NYSSMA Solo Festival

- Will be held May 1^st and 2^nd in Plattsburgh at the Stafford Middle School by Daryle Redmond and Dick Rabideau

NYSSMA Major Organization

- Will be held May 15^th in Plattsburgh at the Plattsburgh High School by Linda Sullivan

2009 FCMEA All-County Music Festival

- Dates for the festival were February 6^th and 7^th with snow dates of February 27^th and 28^th..

- Applications are due on November 22^nd at the Area All-State Festival

- Chairpeople

o General Chairperson - Gayle

o Band Chairperson – Gayle (Jeff Soper will conduct the group)

o Junior High Chorus – Paul (still looking for conductor, Steff Perham will accompany)

o Elementary Chorus – Laura (still looking for conductor, accompanist)

- Lists will be finalized by the first week of December

- Music will be sent out BEFORE Christmas break

Musical Dates 2008-2009

- As of the meeting, the only sure dates were for Malone to have their musical December 12, 13, 14. Yes those are the dates. Malone will be giving a Christmas musical a try this year.

- Salmon River’s will be held in March again.

- Brushton is not sure when

- Chateaugay’s musical will be March 27, 28, 29

New Faces

- FCMEA would like to welcome Mike Trudeau to our group. He has filled the vacancy left by Kathleen Calnon at Chateaugay.

Vietnam War Memorial

- The Moving Wall will be in St. Regis Falls on September 25^th through the 28^th. Sunny and Dana are asking for high school singers and band players to sing and play the national anthem on Sept. 25^th @ 10AM. Any interested send an e-mail to singer@slic.com. (The piece is in Concert Bb)

Guest Speaker

- Mindy has Ronald Sutherland coming to Malone on Oct. 3^rd for his famous “Leadership Workshop”. It is geared toward 9^th through 12^th grade musicians but student council, class officers, etc. can attend. On that same evening there will be auditions for the “American Music Abroad”. Any teacher or student with a level VI 97 or higher can audition. If accepted the cost of the trip is about $3000 for 21 days, all inclusive (except lunch) tour of Europe.

Seeking Mentor

- Mike is seeking a mentor for high school choral instruction. Specifically, help with piece selection, area try-outs, and festival information and suggestions. Any interested should contact Mike. He also mentioned the PEAK festival held by the Clinton Music Educators Association which is a Saturday festival geared to community involvement in making music. It has been discussed before in our county and invitations have been offered but the idea of creating one for our county was graciously denied.

Pre-festival Meeting

- Paul suggested a pre-festival meeting for our 2009 All-County. Group agreed it should take place and the exact date will be discussed out our next meeting.

Next Meeting Date

The next FCMEA meeting will be held: Saturday, November 22, 2008 after the Zone meeting at Saranac Central School (site of the 2008 Area All-State festival)

Adjournment

Mindy made a motion to adjourn the meeting; Paul seconded. All in favor, none opposed, none abstained. Meeting adjourned at 5:06PM.