Hello, thank you for being a pillar in the lives of so many children. Music has been scientifically proven to increase performance in reading, math, language and eye-hand coordination, but more importantly, it produces a more well rounded human being. Although you likely see your students for a short amount of time every week, you are there year after year in the lives of so many children, making their lives brighter and more musical. We get to choose the songs and lessons we teach, what we do not choose is the impact music and mentorship will have on the lives' of the children we teach.
 
            This is a very special year for Idaho Orff Schulwerk Association. We have been brewing and planning and dreaming and we hope this year will serve Idaho's music teachers in as many ways as we possibly can. There are so many ways to learn, volunteer, nurture your inner musician and connect to the broader world of education.
 
            We are ecstatic to be collaborating with the Idaho Chapter of the American Choral Director's Association for our Fall workshop....oops, I mean CONFERNCE! Idaho Orff holds a quadrennial mini conference which dwarfs our regular workshops....and now we are collaborating with Idaho ACDA and we know you are going to LOVE this conference, our LARGEST ever! Everything has been tweaked to ensure all music teachers are able to glean more information than they bargained for as well as feel reconnected, refreshed and ready for a great year of music teaching. The fantastic Lynn Brinkmeyer director of the school of music at Texas State University will be the premiere clinician, though we have many more presenters from our own community as well as a plethora of vendors to meet all of your classroom needs.  This will be well worth the expense and time off, we hope to see you at this collaborative conference!
 
            National conference is in Salt Lake City, yay! Attending national conference can be one of the most deeply nurturing events a music teacher can do. I encourage music teachers of all backgrounds to attend this conference, band teachers, orchestra teachers and choir teachers should all go as well as general music teachers. I am so proud of our scholarship committee and all of the hard work the board and our fantastic Treasure's committee in raising funds for scholarships.
 
            Oh...and there's one more thing.......We are holding the very first ever Idaho All-State Elementary Orff Ensemble! The fantastic Lisa Hewitt, AOSA vice president is running this amazing ensemble in conjunction with the Idaho All-State In-service Conference.  See our Idaho All State Orff Ensemble page for instructions on recommending students to perform.

            This is an exciting year of growth and fun, feel free to reach out to us to introduce yourself, say hello or to help out. Idaho Orff is privileged to serve such outstanding, creative and fun music teachers in our state.

You rock! 
Taggart Lewis
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Happy New Year!
I hope you all had a wonderful, restful break and are rejuvenated to be back in your classrooms!  For me it was great spending time with friends and family, and especially my grandson, Liam!  (for your viewing pleasure I've included a photo!) Be sure to plan on coming to our January 21st  workshop entitled, "Energize Your Classroom:  Then Light Up the Stage!".  You will walk away with practical and creative lessons that will motivate your students like never before!  We are so fortunate to have Tim Wiegand as our presenter.  He is high-energy, creative and is a very active clinician throughout the Unites States and Canada.  He's already sent me his workshop notes and trust me...you won't want to miss this!  Click here for additional information!

Also, I will be announcing a fun Facebook contest that we are launching in February.  I'll explain all the details and what you can win at the workshop on January 21st!

All My Best For the New Year,
Shannon