IV. Association Programs

U.S. Army All-American Marching Band

In cooperation with the United States Army, Sportslink, and Drum Corps International, MENC offers the U.S Army All-American Marching Band. Ninety-seven of the nation’s top marching musicians and students are selected to march at the halftime performance of the U.S. Army All-American Bowl in San Antonio, Texas. Students receive an all-expenses-paid trip to San Antonio, in addition to national media recognition, and a selection presentation at their school by the U.S Army and Sportslink. To be eligible, students must be a high school senior, member in good standing of their school, and member of their school’s marching band from the time of application through the bowl-week performance. In the fall, high school juniors who demonstrate outstanding musicianship, character, and academic achievement can be nominated by their band teacher for the U.S. Army All-American Marching Band. All nominees will receive a certificate of nomination, listing on the MENC All-American web site, and mention in other MENC media. In the spring, nominees can choose to audition to become a member of the U.S. Army All-American Marching Band. Nominees will directly receive all audition and application materials.
More Information.

Music In Our Schools Month® (MIOSM®)

To raise public awareness of the importance of music education, MENC sponsors Music In Our Schools Month (MIOSM), a public outreach program designed to support school music programs. The month of March is officially designated MIOSM in your community and across the nation. It's a time of year when music education programs are featured in schools everywhere, and students, parents, teachers, administrators, and members of the community are made more aware of the importance of music education for all students. More Information.

To help spread the word about MIOSM, awareness items such as banners, T-shirts, buttons, lapel stickers, and other fun advocacy materials are made available by MENC to display in the classroom, share with friends, and give to members of the community.

MENC also sponsors the World's Largest Concert® (WLC)®, a sing-along event in March that features performances from students around the country. The WLC is a great opportunity to raise community awareness of the importance of school music programs. To assist teachers in preparing their students to participate, a Teacher's Guide, with reproducible student music and piano accompaniments, lesson plans, and activities for the WLC, is made accessible on the MENC Web site each year. More Information.

The National Anthem Project: Restoring America's Voice

MENC launched The National Anthem Project, a multi-year campaign to "restore America's voice through music education," on March 10, 2005. MENC created The National Anthem Project to re-teach millions of Americans to sing "The Star-Spangled Banner" while spotlighting the important role school music programs play in teaching American musical and patriotic traditions. This exciting campaign was supported by some of the country's leading organizations, such as the Jeep® brand, the History Channel, Gibson Musical Instruments, NAMM, the International Music Products Association, and Bank of America. Mrs. Laura Bush served as Honorary Chairperson, and the Oak Ridge Boys were the campaign's Official Musical Ambassadors. Events included major singing celebrations across the nation at schools, communities, and professional sporting events. A mobile tour of the 50 states began in January 2006, traveling across the country to spotlight the national anthem and music education through October 2006. MENC continues to celebrate the National Anthem each June with a mass sing at a Washington, DC monument. For more information, visit The National Anthem Project. 

National Anthem Day

Growing out of the National Anthem campaign, every fall, MENC encourages teachers to celebrate “National Anthem Day” on September 14, the anniversary of the penning of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” by organizing school-wide sings of the national anthem at 9 a.m. Eastern time. These events raise awareness of school music programs within the community and local media. More Information.

FAME

The Fund for the Advancement of Music Education (FAME) is an MENC-administered program that seeks to improve and expand music education. The goals of FAME are to increase the public's perception of the importance of music education and to promote public support for music education at the local, state, and federal levels, as well as to take music education beyond the parameters of the teaching profession to the world in which most Americans learn and make music. Donations to FAME are tax-deductible. More Information.

General donations are welcomed, but a special way to support music education through FAME is to donate an inscribed brick for the MENC Walk of FAME outside our headquarters in Reston, Virginia. Donating a brick is an opportunity to honor a mentor, memorialize a loved one, commemorate an occasion or event, or simply make public and permanent your own support for music education. More Information.

Lowell Mason Fellows

The Lowell Mason Fellow distinction is an important honor designed for music educators, music education advocates, political leaders, industry professionals, and others who have contributed to music education in their unique way. Fellow designations also provide an opportunity to support the efforts of MENC through the donation made in the honoree's name. This donation goes to MENC's Fund for the Advancement of Music Education to support future generations of music educators through the organization's programs. Individuals or groups (corporations, universities, foundations, student organizations, etc.) may fund designations.

Planned Giving Programs

MENC is grateful for the many generous donations our members make in support of music education. A significant contribution can be made to future generations with a gift to MENC. The simple act of a bequest not only will help provide tomorrow's children with the challenge, excitement, and rewards of music; it also gives you a substantial tax benefit. Because MENC is a 501(c)(3) organization, all charitable donations are tax-deductible. For bequests, the amount donated is subtracted from the total, pretax value of your estate. This reduces your federal estate tax and puts you in control of deciding how to distribute your hard-earned assets.

MusicFriends

MusicFriends is an MENC program created for parents, community members, and other supporters of music education. Through MusicFriends, MENC distributes information and resources to help members support school music programs at the local, state, and national levels. Membership benefits include music education advocacy updates and a car window decal. There is no fee for membership, though donations to MENC's Fund for the Advancement of Music Education are gratefully accepted. These donations help fund important initiatives to promote and preserve music education in our nation's schools.

Corporate Membership

Available to companies and organizations that provide music education products or services. Member benefits include free advertising space; discounts on member lists and exhibit space; the use of MENC’s logo; Web site links; listings on MENC’s Web site and in MENC electronic newsletter and Teaching Music; and more.

SupportMusic.com

MENC has partnered with NAMM, the International Music Products Association, to develop SupportMusic.com. SupportMusic.com is an online music education advocacy tool that provides key resources to help music educators with a wide array of issues such as budget cuts, lack of administration support, emphasis on athletics over music, large class sizes, and many more. Links from each topic go to issue-specific facts that can help save, start, or improve school music programs.

MENC Collegiate Membership

MENC Collegiate membership affords future music educators an opportunity for professional orientation and development while they are still in school. Collegiate members enjoy the same MENC member benefits as in-service members, with the exception of voting rights; and membership includes a recognition program designed specifically to acknowledge Collegiate chapters and their members for exemplary chapter activities and member achievements. More Information.

Publications Program: Books and Journals

MENC has published more than 100 book titles over the years, and continues to publish works that help fulfill MENC’s mission and strategic plan goals. 
Books cover a wide range of topics (national standards, curriculum and assessment, special needs, multicultural music, band, chorus, orchestra, general music, jazz, early childhood, history, philosophy and symposium proceedings). 
For a complete catalogue and to order, see the Rowman and Littlefield website and click on Co-publishers. MENC members receive from RLE a 25% discount on all MENC published resources.  
Authors interested in publishing through MENC and RLE can visit the publications guidelines on the MENC site.  
See some of the newest books on the MENC Book page. 
MENC also offers to members six journals. Please refer to the Member Features section of this site for details about the journals, or to the Periodicals page.

Tri-M® Music Honor Society

The Tri-M Music Honor Society is an MENC program that recognizes outstanding music students in secondary level schools (grades 6 through 12). Tri-M activities increase students' school and community involvement with music.

Tri-M members are selected based on their academic and musical achievement as well as on their strength of character. Chapters invite qualified students from any organized music ensemble or class in their school to join this international music honor society. Chapter members regularly organize and participate in community-service activities and music-enrichment events as well as nurture a more cohesive, broad, and unified music program. Rewards for this activity include scholarships and Tri-M program awards.

Benefits of Tri-M membership include exclusive Tri-M membership materials, scholarships, individual and chapter achievement recognitions, biannual print newsletters, monthly e-newsletters, Web site, specialty items, meetings at select regional events, and automatic membership in the Junior ASCAP Membership program (J.A.M.).

National Honor Ensembles

MENC National Honor Ensembles are the newest addition to MENC's Music Education Week in Washington. These ensembles are in answer to MENC member requests for the ultimate step of student recognition beyond state and division levels.
Full information, audition music for high school sophomores and juniors, and application forms maybe found online at mencevents.org.

Advocacy Webinars

MENC offers members access to free Webinars on music education advocacy. Webinars feature advocacy experts from music and other education areas and focus on building coalitions, grassroots campaigns, and working with the media, among other topics. Members access the archived webinars at their convenience. More Information

Public Awareness Programs

MENC has conducted several public awareness campaigns on the importance of music education in school. These include an award-winning radio public service announcement series, Why Music?, that features musical celebrities talking about their support for school music. More Information