ELIZABETH PLEMMONS

The Wisconsin School Music Association (WSMA) is a state organization whose purpose is to advocate for quality music education in schools and encourage lifelong involvement in music.  According to WSMA’s mission statement, they “provide statewide music programming activities, offer leadership and support for school music programs, and advance music as an integral part of the school curriculum and community life.”  Most important to me, they believe that music is a basic human need, that the study of music develops life skills, and that music is a vital part of every student’s education.

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WSMA has been fixture in my life for almost as long as I can remember.  They are most well-known throughout the state for solo and ensemble festivals that they host in the spring semester, which is where I first encountered them as a 5th grade band student in my mom’s beginning band program.  I participated in their festivals all throughout late elementary, junior, and senior high schools, and I was a member of the WSMA state honors chorus for all three years of high school.  As a college student, and later on as an adult and music educator, I participated in enrichment seminars at their huge music education conferences in Madison.  I was eventually certified as an adjudicator for the solo and ensemble festivals and was able to give back to students in various communities through this role.

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Music has been a vital part of my life and WSMA has facilitated much of who I have become through their programming and music education advocacy.  As a second-go-round college student, I had the unique opportunity to participate in the State Steering Committee Process, starting in July 2019.  This committee is made up of master music teachers throughout the state of Wisconsin that come together and craft ideas and policies to further support music education and its advocacy throughout the state.

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Steering committee meetings happen twice a year at the WSMA headquarters in Waunakee, WI.  The meetings last all day and each teacher on the committee has a specific role that they play within different aspects of state advocacy, depending on their specialty.  The first half of the day is spent talking about various projects throughout the state and committee leaders give updates on what their branch of advocacy is currently working on.  The second half of the day is spent crafting capital agendas for the various areas of advocacy and putting agendas into action.

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As student representatives, we had our own meetings centered on promoting advocacy within the collegiate communities, specifically with regard to support of emergent and new teachers.  We crafted our own policies and ideas based on gaps in our educations that we couldn’t fill, and put them into practice by creating state conference seminars and putting a call out to experts to come and run them.  We also spent time talking about advocacy on a governmental level, and one of the ways we can advocate at the national level is through Hill Day.  On Hill Day, students and current educators in music education descend on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, and compel legislators to consider the benefits of music education when drafting education policy.

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I had the opportunity during my first meeting in July to sit in on the committee in charge of early childhood music (an area I’ve spent a lot of time with) and helping members of communities who are no longer in school stay in touch with music, promoting lifelong learning.  I was absolutely blown away by how incredibly knowledgeable these amazing teachers are, and how they put their vast resources of knowledge and experience to good use.  Musicians are easily some of the smartest people I know, and these musicians were absolutely top tier.  I was able to contribute some of my own knowledge and experience to these discussions, making me feel like I could hang with the big kids.  It was an extraordinary experience.

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I was also able to contribute on a more concrete level by helping the choral education committee choose different presenters for the State Conference in October based on state need and gaps in education.  As someone who has attended and benefited greatly from this conference over the years, being on the other side of the process and helping to bring these things to other music educators within the state and throughout the upper Midwest was amazing.  I met some extraordinary people in my field and am looking forward to working with them again as the year progresses.

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