Say What? Notable MENC Conference Quotables

“For music teachers, what we do isn’t a job. It is a lifestyle. It is a passion. When we come to the conference, we spend time with other people who are as passionate about their work as we are about ours. It is an enriching experience for all of us.” — MENC President Lynn M. Brinckmeyer, prior to the opening of the MENC conference. Assistant professor of music and director of choral music at Texas State University in San Marcos, she becomes MENC immediate past president on July 1. 

“It is an honor to be here, speaking to the most important people
in the school system—music teachers. In a seemingly neverending
era of budget cuts, we have to fight to keep kids in music
class. If you take the music away, you take away our common
thread.” —“Little” Steven Van Zandt, lead guitarist for Bruce Springsteen’s
E Street Band and founder of the Rock and Roll Forever Foundation,
speaking at the closing general session.

“The arts are an integral part of our learning and growing process. Through the arts we learn about other people and cultures. We learn to look at themes, ideas, and perspectives in new and different ways. We also learn to work with others, for collaboration is often one of the distinguishing characteristics of working in the arts. Music is not a nicety but a necessity. It helps students prepare to participate in a democratic system.”— Sarah D. Jerome, president of the American Association of School Administrators, Keynote Address at Opening Session, MENC 61st National Biennial In-Service Conference

"The CEO's of the top companies in our country told me the skills they most find lacking in many high school graduates are leadership, concentration, teamwork and critical-thinking skills. I know kids with all of those skills and they are the kids in music classes. Music is an incredible tool to teach those critical skills.—Andrea Peterson, MENC member and 2007 National Teacher of the Year, speaking the closing the general session 

“It was a honor to be selected and I accept this honor on behalf of African American music educators.”—Composer Thomas Jefferson Anderson, after being inducted into the Music Educators Hall of Fame

“I am honored to be here to represent my mother. It is so wonderful to be here with all of these wonderful music teachers. I grew up in a house filled with music teachers and this is like coming home for me.” —Suzanne R. Schrift, daughter of the late Mary Helen Richards, the Hall of Fame inductee best known for adapting the Kodály Method for use in American schools

What was your biggest motivation for attending MENC’s Milwaukee conference?
“The conference is wonderful – lots of great opportunities. I come from an urban area and appreciate the efforts of the downtown revitalization. Love the skywalks too.”—MENC member Debbie D’Angelo, Norfolk, Virginia

Is there a place for Rock and Roll in music education?
“Absolutely. If your goal is to respectfully and authentically introduce music of all genres to your students. It’s a part of our heritage and should be taught.”—MENC member Alison Manion, Cambridge, Massachusetts

“This is the last general session of this conference, but we can also look at it as the first meeting in our future. Thank all of you. I look forward to a productive couple of years together.”— Barbara L. Geer, MENC President-Elect, is a music consultant in the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County (North Carolina) School System, and presided at the closing general session.