TN Musician Vol. 70 No. 4

TMEA PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
Johnathan Vest, Ed. D.
I WANT TO THANK THOSE OF YOU WHO
ATTENDED THE 2018 TMEA CONFERENCE,
AND THANKS TO THOSE WHO COMPLETED
THE POST-CONFERENCE SURVEY.
End of the year concerts. Final exams. Allergies. Cleaning out and
organizing. These are all signs of the end of school! Teachers use this
time to reflect, rejuvenate and take part in professional development,
and hopefully spend some much-needed time with family. It goes by
quickly. Pretty soon, band camps will be in full swing and we will be
planning for the 2018-2019 school year. I challenge all of you (and
myself ) to take time for yourself this summer. We can’t be the best
for our students unless we take care of ourselves.
I want to thank those of you who attended the 2018 TMEA Conference,
and thanks to those who completed the post-conference survey.
Based on the feedback we received from that survey, and from
talking with many of you, the conference was very successful. The
performances, the clinicians and the presenters were all top-notch,
and I hope that you were edified and uplifted both personally and
professionally by having attended. Special thanks to the Country
Music Association for supporting our conference this year.
If you weren’t at the conference, Governor Bill Haslam, Education
C ommissioner Candace McQueen, Country Artist Martina McBride,
and Country Music Association CEO Sara Trahern were on hand
at the General Session to unveil the new Tennessee: State of the
Arts initiative. This competitive grant initiative was developed as
a public- private partnership between the Country Music Association
(CMA) Foundation and the State of Tennessee. I’m proud to
announce that TMEA member Todd Shipley has been hired as the
Music and Arts Grant Program Director/Arts Specialist with the
Tennessee Department of Education. Todd will also serve as the
contact at the Department of Education for all things related to
our discipline. Congratulations, Todd, and we know you will serve
our profession well!
I am so honored to have served our profession as president of this
organization for the past two years. I believe we have done good
work in the past two years; we have developed a partnership with
the Country Music Association, hired a lobbyist and have been more
involved in the legislative process, and we have improved the conference
experience for our students and teachers. I look forward to
the direction that Lafe Cook will lead us as president for the next
two years.
4 | TENNESSEE MUSICIAN | 2018 | Volume 70, No. 4