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A Message from our President...    

Don Emmons

Dear CASTA Membership,

I hope this letter finds you doing well as you finish another school year teaching strings in Colorado.  At this time of year, it is time to look forward to a variety of things that CASTA has to offer you this summer and beyond.  

Several items that I hope are on your list to explore:

·         Summer CASTA/CBA Conference at Cherry Creek H.S. on July 16, 17.

·         Orchestra audition tapes for the 2010 CMEA conference are due May 22nd.  See the CMEA website      for details.  www.cmeaonline.org

·         There are three immediate openings for String Teachers with experience at the Middle/High School level.  Please contact Don Emmons for more information.

·         National High School Honors Orchestra audition tapes due the end of May.

·         ASTA National Conference in Santa Clara, California, Feb. 18 – 20, 2010.

·         The variety of National ASTA Grants that assist our teachers and programs throughout the state (see the National ASTA website for details and deadlines).  www.astaweb.com

In particular, I would like to encourage each of you who are school directors, and are eligible, to submit a tape audition/application for the 2010 CMEA Clinic/Conference.  Tapes are due May 22nd and all of the appropriate information is on the CMEA website.  It is an amazing experience for you and your students and I would also encourage you to contact directors who had their groups perform at this past 2009 Clinic/Conference about their experience including the audition preparation, performance preparation and the performance experience itself.  Directors of performing orchestra ensembles at this past Clinic/Conference include Fred Jewell, Mindi Loewen, Campbell Harrison, Kim Farrell, Frank Fyock and Andrea Meyers [Kudos on her retirement this year from Public School teaching after a rich and varied career in Colorado.]

With many districts not supporting our string education programs as fully as we would like, it is also time to take a more careful look at some of the programs and grants that National ASTA has to offer.  Go the National ASTA website to see if any of these programs or grant opportunities could benefit the maintaining, growing or creating of string programs in your area or district.  It is also time to be in contact with one another to support each other as many of our string teachers around the state are being challenged by their school administration or district level administration.  In many cases, string programs are being cut.  Whatever each of us can do to reach out and make our voices heard for the support of our string programs throughout our state will be beneficial to all.

A very public thank you to Fred Jewell who has faithfully served as the editor and publisher of our Colorado ASTA String Vibrations Newsletter for many years.  The String Vibrations is now an online only publication in an effort to manage costs and to become a “greener” organization.  Also, a sincere thank you for the faithful support of your CASTA President-Elect Kim Watkins and your CASTA Past-President Andrea Meyers for their constant work planning and guiding this organization forward.  And a very strong thanks to Nancy Allwein for her work as CASTA Treasurer.

Lastly, go to the CASTA website and see the wealth of resources that are there for you as a string educator.  I most recently found another website link for string orchestra music on the CASTA website that led me to some wonderful (and FREE) music for my string orchestra at LHS.  Kudos to our webmaster Linda Johnson, for creatively and effectively providing a wonderful resource with an enormous amount of relevant information that supports our string teachers in Colorado on our CASTA website.

May you all finish your school year strong and look forward to connecting and re-connecting this summer at the CASTA/CBA Convention.  I have certainly found that conventions are certainly the most efficient and effective means of continuing to improve my teaching.  I hope and challenge you that you find these to be the same for you as well.  See you this summer.

Don Emmons, CASTA President