Petition's Progress: Indiana's Circle of Song Festival Embraces MENC's Petition and Change Drives

Indiana Music Educators Ask Concert Goers to "Sign Up"

On February 14, Crawfordsville, Indiana, audiences gathered for special elementary and secondary choral concerts, and music educators circulated throughout the crowd distributing MENC's Petitions for Equal Access to Music Education.

The concerts were part of Indiana's 20th Annual "Circle the State with Song Choir Festival." The event is aimed at students in grades four through eight.

Cecil Shoemaker, an MENC member since 1981, thanked MENC for "providing such a powerful advocacy tool to our community."  Shoemaker, coordinator of the festival in Crawfordsville, said music teachers collected 527 signatures at the concert. 

The Indiana Music Educators Association sponsors 11 choir festivals across the state of Indiana during the months of February and March. Music teachers are invited to select an average of 10-15 students from their schools (depending upon the school's enrollment) for the festival, where these students are led by an experienced choral director throughout the day, allowing for a more challenging choral music environment for most of the students involved. More information on Circle the State with Song may be found here.

Shoemaker has taught public school music, both elementary and middle/junior high school, for 28 years. He currently teaches at Lafayette Tecumseh Junior High School.

 

-- Roz Fehr, March 7, 2009. © MENC: The National Association for Music Education