Advocacy News, Action, and Alerts
Music Education: How Has It Affected Your Life?
Are you a business professional? Did you take music classes in school? MENC would like to know your story about how the music classes or lessons you took growing up has affected your life and your career. Please send us stories to let us know how music education has affected you. Send your stories to musicfriends@menc.org.

For Music Teachers
April is Jazz Appreciation Month!
Doing a jazz event in April? Consider it part of Jazz Appreciation Month and get free publicity through the Smithsonian. Any jazz concert, lecture, or event open to the general public in April qualifies. For more Jazz Appreciation Month events, visit this site.

$5,000 Cash Prizes for Outstanding Teachers
The Turnaround Management Association (TMA) is now accepting applications for the 2008 Butler-Cooley Excellence in Teaching Award, which recognizes teachers who have changed the lives of students and communities in which they live. The program provides $5,000 cash stipends to three to five public or private school teachers and travel and lodging expenses to TMA’s 2008 Annual Convention in New Orleans, Louisiana, October 27-29. Applicants must be licensed and active elementary or secondary school teachers employed by accredited schools for at least five years. Teachers may nominate themselves or be nominated by others. Guidelines, applications, and a list of previous winners are available here. Deadline: May 1, 2008.

3rd Annual Ultimate Music Room Makeover
Write in and explain why your music room needs a makeover, and you could win over $30,000 in new instruments and equipment from In Tune's 3rd Annual Ultimate Music Room Makeover. Entering is easy! Simply write to info@intunemonthly.com (with "Ultimate Music Room Makeover" in the subject line) explaining why In Tune should pick your music room. Please include your address and phone number. The first 100 teachers who enter automatically win a pair of Pro-Mark drumsticks. Deadline is June 13, 2008.

2008 TI:ME Summer Music Technology Courses
The Technology Institute for Music Educators (TI:ME) offers innovative courses throughout the country that focus on teaching music technology skills to educators. These courses are designed to assist you in using technology effectively, creating an exciting world of musical involvement for your students. Courses can be taken for either professional development and/or graduate credits. For more information visit the web site.

2008 “Teaching Guitar” Workshops
This summer, participate in a free workshop on guitar teaching techniques. These workshops have helped more than 1,500 teachers provide guitar classes for 700,000 students and are open to MENC members. In addition to the instruction, workshop participants receive a free guitar, guitar publications and accessories, and three graduate college credits from Duquesne University. The entire package is worth about $1,800, and participants pay only travel and housing expenses. To register visit the web site. Sponsored by The Guitar and Accessories Marketing Association, MENC, NAMM-- International Music Products Association, and the Mary Pappert School of Music at Duquesne University.

For Music Students
GRAMMY Camp Seeks Counselors
GRAMMY Camp, an immersive summer music program for high school students, will be held at the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music and other professional venues throughout Los Angeles from July 12-26. Counselors ages 21-24, preferably enrolled in college or recently graduated, are needed. You will receive airfare, housing, food, and a stipend. For more information, visit Grammy in the Schools in the GRAMMY Camp section.

Summer Study 2008
Is your child interested in continuing their music education over the summer? Summer Study 2008 provides a variety of unique music-related opportunities for students ranging from camps, to festivals, to certification programs, and much more. For more information, visit the Summer Study 2008 page at www.menc.org in early May for the latest postings.

Caitlin Fund, Student Scholarships
The Caitlin Merie Hurrey Memorial Scholarship Fund has been established as part of the Fund for the Advancement of Music Education of The National Association for Music Education (MENC). The Caitlin Scholarship Fund provides four scholarships each year: one to a MENC parent member to assist in sending one of their children to college; one to a high school senior who is planning to attend an accredited college or university, and has a personal connection to Huntingtown Elementary School; the third to a MENC collegiate senior; and the fourth to a high school senior who is the son or daughter of an active-duty or retired member of one of the U.S. Military musical ensembles. Applications for 2008 are due May 31.

This Month In Music History …

• April 1, 1873 - Composer Sergei Vasilievitch Rachmaninov was born.
• April 10, 1927 - "Ballet Macanique" was presented for the first time at Carnegie Hall in New York City. It was the first symphonic work that used an airplane propeller and other mechanical contraptions not normally associated with the ballet.
• April 11, 1936 - The SPEBSQSA (Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barber Shop Quartet Singing in America) was founded.
• April 13, 1742 - George Frideric Handel's "Messiah" was first performed publicly, in Dublin, Ireland.
• April 24, 1934 - The pipeless organ was patented by Laurens Hammond.