This year, Hillsborough County Public Schools has been honored with the Best Communities for Music Education designation from The NAMM Foundation for its outstanding commitment to music education. Now in its 23rd year, the Best Communities for Music Education designation is awarded to districts that demonstrate outstanding achievement in efforts to provide music access and education to all students.
To qualify for the Best Communities designation, Hillsborough County Public Schools answered detailed questions about funding, graduation requirements, music class participation, instruction time, facilities, support for the music program, and community music-making programs. Responses were verified with school officials and reviewed by The Music Research Institute at the University of Kansas.
Since the passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) in 2015 and a stated emphasis on a well-rounded education, many school districts have re-committed to music and arts education programs. During the pandemic, music and arts programs were a vital component to keeping students engaged in school. ESSA provides designated funding for well-rounded educational opportunities through Title IV Part A Student Academic Success and Achievement grants. NAMM Foundation research has revealed that these grants are being widely used by school districts to address instructional gaps in access to music and arts education.
Research into music education continues to demonstrate educational/cognitive and social skill benefits for children who make music: After two years of music education, researchers found that participants showed more substantial improvements in how the brain processes speech and reading scores than their less-involved peers and that students who are involved in music are not only more likely to graduate high school, but also to attend college as well. Everyday listening skills are stronger in musically trained children than in those without music training. Significantly, listening skills are closely tied to the ability to: perceive speech in a noisy background, pay attention, and keep sounds in memory. Later in life, individuals who took music lessons as children show stronger neural processing of sound: young adults and even older adults who have not played an instrument for up to 50 years show enhanced neural processing compared to their peers. Not to mention, social benefits include conflict resolution, teamwork skills, and how to give and receive constructive criticism.
About The NAMM Foundation
The NAMM Foundation is a nonprofit supported in part by the National Association of Music Merchants and its approximately 10,300 members around the world. The foundation advances active participation in music making across the lifespan by supporting scientific research, philanthropic giving and public service programs. For more information about The NAMM Foundation, please click below.
HCEMEC Website
The new website for the Hillsborough County Music Educator's Council is live thanks to the hard work of our Technology in Music Education (TIME) chair, Cliff Flouts! Click below to check out the new website where you can find information about the council, it's events, and ways to support music education in Hillsborough County Public Schools.
Hillsborough Kids Rock
Family Day at the State Fair
This year, HCPS students had the amazing opportunity to rock out at our Florida State Fair! On Friday afternoon, February 18th, Hillsborough County student rock bands took to the Midway Stage to perform popular songs on modern band instruments in front of friends, families, and passersby. The event was sponsored by Casper's Company McDonalds, friends of Hillsborough County Public Schools. Ronald McDonald himself hosted the amazing event and posed for some amazing photos! The event included performances from Tinker K-8 School, Lanier Elementary School, McKitrick Elementary School, Ruskin Elementary School, Roosevelt Elementary School, and Clark Elementary School. Every participating school was gifted $200 from Casper's Company McDonalds to be used in support of their music programs! Additionally, at the end of the showcase students were treated to a special meal courtesy of Ronald McDonald. I bet you can guess what was on the menu!
Thank you to our wonderful friends at Casper's Company McDonalds for presenting such an amazing experience to our very talented students!
To learn more about Casper's Company click below.
Fine Arts Festival 2022
Elementary All County Music
On March 5th, HCEMEC hosted it's annual Fine Arts Festival featuring All County groups of singers and instrumentalists. While this event is normally held at the Straz Center, FishHawk Creek Elementary was able to host the festival during a winter of uncertainty. We are so grateful to have had the opportunity to showcase the wonderful student musicianship present throughout our school district this year!
Every student musician that participated in the All County groups earned their spot through an audition process. In order to get these talented kids prepared for the big day, five after-school rehearsals were held at various county sites. None of this would have been possible without the dedication by Hillsborough County elementary music teachers and the support of our rehearsal and performance site leaders!
For the day of the Festival, the weather couldn't have been better! West, Central, East Choruses, World Drumming, Handbells, Mallet Percussion, and Orchestra made music under the covered court at FishHawk Creek and guests were treated to wonderful artwork from HCPS students on display on their way in.
This year's ensemble conductors were these talented teachers:
West Chorus: Virginia Vera
Central Chorus: Kyla Knauer
East Chorus: Rebecca Scott
Orchestra: Timothy Dow
World Drumming: Kevin Liotta-DeVivo
Handbells: Jennifer LeBlanc
Mallets: Jennifer and Sean Moats
Fine Arts Festival Coordinator: Kimberly Oppermann
The Fine Arts Festival is sponsored by the Hillsborough Elementary Music Educator's Council in conjunction with Hillsborough County Public Schools. Thanks to their support, the talent in elementary music is given a chance to shine!
Click below to check out our digital program from the concert where you can learn more about the conductors and the music performed!
Florida Music Educators Association
Professional Conference Returns for 2022
After a year online, the annual Florida Music Educator's Conference returned to the convention center in Downtown Tampa this January! While some aspects of the conference experience were altered from their norm, conference was back! Guest appearances, performers, and keynote speakers kicked the conference into high gear during the general session. Not every professional conference includes a live performance by The FAMU Marching 100 during its general session!
While some exhibitors and sessions were limited in number due to the surge in COVID cases, music teachers were able to attend sessions throughout the weekend and had the opportunity to reconnect with colleagues that they perhaps haven't seen in several years. Apart from attending all of the wonderful sessions, HCEMEC council members worked hard during the conference to assist the All State Orff and Chorus groups with moving equipment to and fro.
This year, Hillsborough Elementary music was represented in All State Chorus and the All State Orff Ensemble by students from Carrollwood Elementary School and Mary Bryant Elementary School. We are so honored to have these exceptional student musicians representing our district!
Next year, Conference will return January 11-14th. Mark your calendars!
Click below to learn about the Florida Music Educators Association.
HCPS Race for Education
Student Community Performance
This year Hillsborough County Public Schools (HCPS) hosted the inaugural "Race for Education 5K and 1-mile Walk"! To provide entertainment, students from the surrounding areas participated in sideline performances along the runner's path. In addition to several secondary music groups, this year's performers included students from the Mitchell Elementary Bobcat Chorus and Lanier Elementary World Drummers. Both groups provided lively and inspirational tunes as the participants made their way along the course. Their performances were well received, evidenced by the smiles, waves, and cheers from race participants. We look forward to next year's "Race for Education" and future student performances!
Little Kids Rock
Spirit Night Performances at Beef O' Brady's
As a part of HCEMEC’s Music in our Schools Month festivities, some of our modern bands performed at Spirit Nights hosted by Beef O’ Brady’s. These events were put on hold over the last couple of years due to covid and were back in full swing this year! The spirit nights are a terrific opportunity for our students to perform out in our community in a non-school setting and allow us to raise funds for the HCEMEC Little Kids Rock Instrument Repair Fund. Teachers with Little Kids Rock/Modern Bands are then able to apply for grants used for fixing or replacing damaged instruments. Check out this year’s participants!
Lowry Elementary - Lorri Naylor and Jia Leikensohn
Lanier Elementary - Jon Casanas
Mitchell Elementary - Samantha Snow and Lidia Stokes
Woodbridge Elementary - Craig Rohrbacker
Claywell Elementary - Anita Travaglino
Ruskin Elementary - Sophavy Vann
Tinker K-8- Fiorella Tangherlini
Roosevelt Elementary- Ernesta Chicklowski
Nelson Elementary- Carole Pearce
HCEMEC and the Advocacy team want to thank all the teachers, students, parents, and administration that supported this event as well as a HUGE shoutout to all the Beef O’Brady’s locations that helped us raise funds this year. We are looking forward to keeping this a yearly event!
Little Kids Rock
Modern Band Trainings
I recently attended the Modern Band 102 training led by the incredible Sean Moats. This training was exactly what I needed to sharpen my skills and learn new ones! We were actively involved from the start. I play guitar but didn’t know a thing about playing the bass. Sean taught us the names of the strings and how to play a riff within the first few minutes. Suddenly I didn’t feel as uncomfortable and began to play with the track. As the day went on we played electric guitar, drums, and keyboards.
Breaking each instrument part down into doable chunks allowed me to succeed. I knew it would do the same for my students. Creating an entire band has always been scary to me because it is unfamiliar territory. Now I know how to teach each instrument part to my students in a way that they can be successful.
Little Kids Rock has an abundance of resources available to teachers on their website, however, there is nothing like an in person training. Don’t stop at 101! Take Modern Band 102 the next time it becomes available!
To learn more about Little Kids Rock, click on the button below.
Credits:
Created with images by swooshed - "metronomes tempo tick" • Artur - "Writing note showing Website Update. Business concept for keeping the webpage and content up to date and trendy" • fortton - "Green ukulele on a yellow background. Little Ukulele. " • Sakchai - "Legs of people on marathon running. Run for health." • Day Of Victory Stu. - "The musician plays and the lead singer sings on stage at the music festival at night..Concert,mini concert and music festivals." • vectorfusionart - "Midsection of guitarist performing in club"