A Message from our PCMEA President

​My fellow Pinellas County Schools Music Educators,
 
Welcome to the 2020-2021 school year. As we embark on this unknown journey together, education in the world of Covid-19, it is my honor to serve as the president of the Pinellas County Music Educators Association.
Our world has changed since March 13, 2020. While I don’t know what the future holds, here are some things I do know.

1. Arts education is essential. We all have experienced how the arts serve as an anchor in this rocky sea. The arts unite people through shared experience, even when we cannot be physically together. Arts provides solace, familiarity, and comfort. The arts are academically challenging, and provide structure and routine. These are all things we, and our students, desperately need.
2. Educators, and particularly music educators, are an extremely creative and resourceful team. We are able to face a challenge head on and rely on one another for assistance and ideas. We can do this together.
3. We are learning new tools to reach our students in a 21st century classroom. No matter what the future of education holds, we will emerge from this better equipped to help our students reach their full potential.

            The mission of the Pinellas County Music Educators Association is to support and promote professional growth and to advocate for quality music education in order to foster highest student achievement in music. With this mission in mind, your board is here to serve you. I am privileged to work with a board of amazing music educators. Your component representatives want to help you through this challenging time. Please reach out to them with questions and concerns so that the board can work to assist you.
            Together, we will take on this challenge. The American rag time composer Scott Hayden is credited with saying, “Teachers have three loves: love of learning, love of learners, and the love of bringing the first two loves together.” Whether online or in person, Pinellas County Music Educators will bring a love of learning and a love of learners together to provide the best music education experience possible.
                                                                        Sincerely,
                                                                        Meghan Alfaro
                                                                        President
                                                                        Pinellas County Music Educators Association

PCMEA 2020 ELEMENTARY TEACHER OF THE YEAR



​​Marie Hill
K-5 Music Specialists
Douglas L. Jamerson Elementary School

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PCMEA 2020 SECONDARY TEACHER OF THE YEAR
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Matthew Clear
9-12 Choir
Pinellas County Center for the Arts

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PCMEA 2020 ROOKIE TEACHER OF THE YEAR



Danay Valero
Band 6-8
Seminole Middle School 

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PCMEA CONGRATULATES OUR RETIREES
Debra Freeman
Susan Cavanaugh
Debra Lange
Jeff Green
Kay Marudas
Beverly Ambler
Jim Sharpe
Sharon Crew Hall

"The mission of the Pinellas County Music Educators Association is to support and promote professional growth and to advocate for quality music education in order to foster highest student achievement in music."

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2019-2020 Celebrations!

• PCMEA helped to support the launch of the Ignite Middle School Band Camp.
• PCMEA made progress in increasing data towards more balanced and diverse ensembles across the district.
• PCMEA helped sponsor All County events, increasing the opportunities for all Pinellas County music students to participate in first-class ensembles under the direction of  some of the best clinicians in the state.
• Our Hospitality Committee planned events and provided refreshments and meals including District Wide Trainings and our End of Year Celebration.
• PCMEA has effectively merged the Elementary Orchestra with its secondary counterparts for a fully articulated,  All - County Performance experience.
• PCMEA sponsored honorariums and mini-grants given to music teachers for professional development.  
• Band and Orchestra composition contests were sponsored with the winners being awarded with prize money and the opportunity to have their pieces performed at the All-County Concerts.