Keep your zeal! Zeal is the eager desire and enthusiastic diligence that inspired all of us to become musicians and educators. It is impossible to keep your zeal without persistence. When the going gets tough remember that there is no giant step that does it—teaching is a process of lots of little steps. As educators let us strive to encourage our students and ourselves to push forward because hard work and persistence in the end brings a profit. Never underestimate the power of persistence!

Thank you for the honor of serving the Southeast district the past two years. I have enjoyed the opportunity of working with such a prominent group of music educators at both the district and state level. The SE district officer's board has done a fantastic job of organizing the 2012-13 events for our district. Thank you to Greta Adams, Rhonda Allen, Dawn Bailey, Linda Evans, James Fox, Mark Gard, Christine Lovell, Christa Weber, John Womeldorff, and Gary McCarty for serving on the board the past two years. Special thanks to the following directors for their work in hosting and managing the facilities at the 2012-13 events: Robert Walker, Scott Allison, Lance Burnett, Dirk Myers, and Rhonda Harrison.

Christa Weber and John Womeldorff have been obtaining additional names for the KMEA Advocacy Network. This is a list of high profile individuals who would be available to support music advocacy issues across the state. Advocacy continues to be a critical issue concerning music education. Endeavor to take some time to check out the advocacy form from our district website and forward the information to our advocacy chairs. Additional advocacy information is available on the state KMEA website.

I hope you take advantage of the opportunities offered by the SE district and available on the website at: ksmea.org/se. Let us look forward to a great year and remember to keep our zeal as we promote music education in our classrooms and across Kansas!

KMEA Southeast District Calendar of Events

November 3	District Auditions at Parsons High School
November 9	Elementary and Middle School Deadline for Honor Group Entries
November 29	District Honors Jazz Band at Pittsburg Memorial Auditorium
December 1	District Mini-Convention at Chanute Memorial Auditorium
January 5	State Auditions at Salina-Central High School
January 12	Elementary and Middle School Honor Groups at Chanute High School
February 21-23	KMEA ISW in Wichita
June 7	District Board Meeting, TBA

2012 Outstanding Music Educators

Elementary Jeanne Hoover Pittsburg-Lakeside Elementary 20 Years

Middle School Jeff Russell Anderson County Schools 17 Years

High School Erin Shelton Independence High School 11 Years