New to Tennessee?
TMEA welcomes music educators to join our association whether you are starting out for the first time or whether you are an experienced veteran.
This page will provide you with information about the organization of our state
Music Education Association to help you become acclimated with how we do things
here in Tennessee.
Need a Job?
Check out our Jobs page. We list job openings when we are notified.
Organization
TMEA as a statewide music education association has a long and distinguished
history. (Read about it on our
History page.) An important factor for a newcomer to understand is that the
state is divided into three distinct geographical areas: East, Middle, and West.
The dividing line between West and Middle is the Tennessee River. The line
between East and Middle is not nearly so clearly drawn, but if you consider that
East TN activities are primarily centered around Knoxville, Chattanooga and the
Johnson City area, while Middle TN activities are centered primarily around the
Nashville area, you can probably determine which region is the most logical for
you to consider.
TMEA has at least three affiliated organizations active in each region. These
are a vocal organization made up of primarily high school and middle school
choral directors, an instrumental organization made up of primarily high school
and middle school band directors, and an elementary organization made up of
primary and some middle school teachers. Specifically these are the East, Middle
and West Tennessee Vocal Associations, (ETVA, MTVA, and WTVMEA), East, Middle
and West Tennessee Band and Orchestra Associations (ETSBOA, MTSBOA, and WTSBOA)
and East, Middle and West Tennessee Elementary Ed. Associations (ETEMEA, MTEMEA,
and WTEMEA.) All of the Vocal Associations and Band/Orchestra Associations have
their own websites which are linked from the TMEA website homepage.
The Colleges and Universities of Tennessee are well represented in the
membership of TMEA. We highly value the expertise available at our local higher
education institutions and they are very active in the regional and state
association events and leadership. TMEA contributes to the process of teacher
education through our state chapters of the Collegiate Music Educators National
Conference (CMENC), which are also among our affiliates.
Joining TMEA
TMEA represents all phases of music education at all school levels with the mission “to promote the advancement of high quality music education for all.” Active TMEA membership is open to all persons currently teaching music and others with a special interest or involvement in music education. Collegiate membership is available for anyone studying at any institution of higher education and retired membership is available for anyone retired from teaching. The link to a membership application for new members is at
http://www.menc.org/information/members/memform.html. That same sight also provides steps for current members to renew their membership.
Anyone joining MENC automatically becomes a member of TMEA and receives all benefits of MENC as well as TMEA. Some of those benefits include: access to members-only resources on the MENC web site such as bulletin boards, online mentors answering your questions, advocacy materials and teachers’ guides, journals for general music, research, and teacher education, and job seeker listings.
Members also receive: practical, real-life teaching techniques in MENC print journals
Teaching Music and Music Educators Journal; TMEA members receive copies of
The Tennessee Musician four times during the school year which contain in-depth information about music education in Tennessee as well as insightful articles by our state’s leaders in music education.
Also, membership in TMEA/MENC is critical to keeping our voice strong in support of local, state, and national music education initiatives.
TMEA is proud to be associated with nine regional music education associations that are listed as the "Regional Affiliate Organizations" under Links in the main menu. Membership in any of those associations is handled directly with the particular association and is separate from TMEA/MENC membership.
Still not convinced?
Check out this article for more reasons you should join -
click here!