Welcome to the 2012 KMEA In-Service Workshop edition of the KMR! There are some wonderful clinics lined up for NAfME Collegiate this year, hopefully you will find these clinicians as inspiring as I do as they unveil their wisdom to the next generation of music educators. Don't forget to come to the NAfME Collegiate luncheon on Friday, February 24. This is a chance for all NAfME Collegiate members and Tri-M honorees to mingle and have lunch catered by the Hyatt. You will hear words of wisdom from leaders such as KMEA President Craig Manteuffel and NAfME (National Association for Music Education) President Scott Shuler! The luncheon is also when your elected state President will make his or her inaugural speech. If you are interested in running for NAfME Collegiate State President 2012-2013, please visit the CMENC link at: www.ksmea.org/cmenc for the application details. If you have questions, free to email me at the address showing at the top of this page.

I would like to take a moment to bid farewell to the KMR readers as I finish my presidency. I am extremely grateful for all the opportunities I have had while serving as NAfME Collegiate President and realize that I could not have accomplished as much as I have without the help and leadership of the KMEA Board Members. It has been a pleasure serving with you as you are all truly inspiring. Thanks to all your individual wisdom, I have learned a great deal during the past year.

It's that time of year again when we travel from all corners of the state to enrich our pedagogy, recharge our love of music, and expand our repertoire and bag of tricks. Most importantly, we travel from all corners of the state to one place, which gives us an amazing chance to reunite with old friends and colleagues, and hopefully meet a few new faces during the weekend.

I think networking is one of the most valuable things you can do at the ISW every February. Another important reason for holding the ISW is to showcase superior performances from a wide-variety of schools and ensembles. It also gives our music educators new or revitalized strategies for effective teaching, as well as introducing directors to music to consider for their ensembles from a number of exhibitors. Of course, I'm only telling you what you already know about the ISW. But there is something unique about these gatherings that brings us back every year, more so than all the shiny new toys, sought-after clinicians, and free sheet music.

As music educators, we can be in somewhat isolated positions. We are sometimes the only music teacher in the school or district. We are so busy keeping up with our lessons and the hundreds of students we see every day that it can become frustrating without someone to talk through problems in the classroom or a buddy to lean on for help. Not only that, we have become so dependent upon social media, email, and other technologies that it is almost frightening to think about picking up the phone and just calling a friend or colleague. In the opposite role, when we come to the ISW, our technologies are not nearly as accessible and other professionals (or pre-professionals) are abundant who more than likely can share common problems, frustrations, joys, and discoveries with you.

Keeping in contact is so important in our field, from staying up-to-date on the latest music education news to hearing about the hottest new scores off the press. Such contact is also healthy for us, it keeps us sane. There are many other perks to networking at conferences, but how often do we say "see you next year" without a word in between? Pick up the phone, call a friend or colleague, or shoot a quick email to see how that new contact is doing. Who doesn't like getting a message from a friend?