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  PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE

Tony Ravinsky - OCMEA President

Dear OCMEA Members,

As the 2011/2012 school year begins, I would like to take this opportunity to welcome both returning and new teachers to Orange County. Due to Middletown being in a state of emergency from 7:00am today thru 7:00am Fri. the OCMEA General Meeting / Dinner will be cancelled. We will inform you within a week if we reschedule the meeting. All information that was to be discussed will be mailed or e-mailed to you. Hope you are all staying dry.

The board has been working hard over the summer reviewing policies, looking over our finances, and starting to plan all the outstanding festivals and conferences that benefit OUR amazing students here in Orange County.  That is exactly why I love this organization, because OCMEA is here to give our students these great opportunities and support the hard working and dedicated music educators of Orange County. 

I would like to highlight some policies that will remain in place this year. 

• All Festival Sign-ups will be done at solochair.com. Contact Chris Taborsky (MW) if you have problems registering.
• OCMEA dues will not be raised again this year.
• The Elementary Festival will have two choruses with a split concert format.
• We will continue to “go green” by utilizing email as much as possible.  If you get an email from us, please make sure that your colleagues have also gotten that email.  Sometimes we have problems with email addresses.   
• All instrumental auditions have specific scale and sight-reading requirements.  Check the website for this and other pertinent information.
• Students selected for any All-County Festival need to attend all rehearsals in their entirety.  DO NOT tell students or their parents that they may leave rehearsal early.
• All communication with parents must be done through the corresponding music teacher.  This protects the teacher and the programs.

OCMEA is continuing to give back to its members and their students. I am pleased to inform you of the following great programs we have in place and are looking to instate this year. 

• OCMEA will once again charter a bus to Rochester for any Orange County All-State students and their teachers.
• OCMEA continues to award over $7,000 worth of scholarships each year to graduating seniors. 
• We are currently looking into forming a Grant Program to award funds to enhance Orange County music programs where district funds might not be available.  Information will be available shortly.

There are many ways to keep in touch with OCMEA.  All board members check their email regularly.  Make sure to check the website for forms and festival information.  You may share the website address with parents.

See you at the General Meeting and don’t forget the Conference Day on November 8th in Monroe Woodbury!

Tony Ravinsky,
OCMEA President

President's Message in PDF form