Each year, the Technology Institute for Music Educators (TI:ME) recognizes an outstanding music teacher at the annual TI:ME conference. The award is called: "The TI:ME Teacher of the Year Award." This annual award began in 2005. For nomination procedures and eligibility, see the application form (2010 application now available).
TI:ME is proud to announce that Dr. Rick Dammers, of Rowan University, is the Mike Kovins TI:ME 2010 Teacher of the Year! Rick teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in instrumental music education, research methods, and technology-based music instruction, as well as supervises student teachers and serves as program advisor for Instrumental Music Education at Rowan University. In addition, Rick writes the music technology column for NJMEA’s Tempo and serves as technology co-coordinator for state conventions. Rick is passionate about research, which is reflected in his dissertation that focused on laptop-based composing in a middle school band rehearsal and his recently published case study on on-line trumpet lessons that utilized Skype. As described by one of his students, “Dr. Dammers is truly an exceptional professor who is helping to inspire his students to use the resources available to them, as well as explore other media, to create a learning environment that fosters creativity and a love of music in all young students.” TI:ME is honored to have Dr. Rick Dammers as its 2010 TI:ME Teacher of the Year!
Wayne Splettstoeszer, Director of Instrumental Music/Music Technology of Torrington High School, has received the 2009 Mike Kovins TI:ME Teacher of the Year award.
Wayne Splettstoeszer received his BS-ED and Master's Degree in music education from Central Connecticut State University, New Britain, Connecticut. As a music teacher at Saint Bernard High School in Uncasville, Connecticut from 1994-1996 he was in charge of all aspects of the music program. Since 1996 Wayne has been Director of Bands/Music Technology at Torrington High School, Torrington, Connecticut. Under his direction the Torrington High School Symphonic, Jazz and Marching Bands have grown and received numerous first place awards. In 2006 the THS "Pride of Torrington" Marching Band was selected to represent the State of Connecticut in the National Cherry Blossom Parade in Washington, D.C. In 2007 the Torrington High School String Orchestra received 1st Place Best Appearing High School Orchestra at the Festivals of Music, Boston, Massachusetts. In 2008 the Torrington High School Symphonic Band and Jazz Ensemble both received 1st Place Superior Ratings and Adjudicator's Awards as the highest scoring ensembles at the Heritage Music Festival in Philadelphia, PA. Torrington High School also received Instrumental and Festival Sweepstakes Awards as well. The Torrington High School Jazz Ensemble was selected to perform with the United States Air Force Airmen of Note Jazz Ensemble on their 2008 Connecticut Tour.
The music technology program has expanded from one class offering in 1996 and now offers two levels of classes. In 2000 a new 20-station music technology lab was completed offering students at Torrington High School the opportunity to work with the latest technology. The Music Technology Program at Torrington High School is the only school from New England to be a featured school on the Music Technology Learning Center Website, was the cover story of the April 2001 issue of School Band and Orchestra magazine, and was selected by the Roland Corporation of Los Angeles, California as one of four schools in the country to be a part of their educational booth graphics. Wayne has presented technology sessions at the Connecticut and Massachusetts Music Educators Association All-State Conferences, 2003 MENC Eastern Division Conference in Providence, Rhode Island, numerous school districts throughout Connecticut and Massachusetts. He has served on the faculty of the University of Massachusetts Lowell Summer Program and is presently Adjunct Professor of Music Technology at Fairfield University, Fairfield, Conn.
Wayne is an active member of Connecticut Music Educators Association, MENC, Technology Institute for Music Educators, and Connecticut Chapter of American School Band Directors Association, was included in the 2000,2002,2004 2005 and 2006 editions of Who's Who Among America's Teachers, was an advisor for the Roland Corporation's Instruments of Change Educational Newsletter, nominated for the 2001 Disney American Teachers Award and 2003 Disney Creative Teaching Award and was selected as the Torrington Wal-Mart 2003 Teacher of the Year and the Torrington Public Schools 2003-2004 Teacher of the Year. In 2004 Wayne was selected as one of 50 Directors Who Make a Difference by School Band and Orchestra Magazine. In 2006 Wayne was selected as the Connecticut Music Educators Association Secondary Music Educator of the Year and was inducted as a member of the Phi Beta Mu International Band Master's Fraternity. In 2007 Wayne was inducted as an Honorary member of the University of Connecticut Chapter Tau Beta Sigma Band Fraternity. In 2009 Wayne was selected to receive the Technology Institute for Music Educators National Teacher of the Year Award.
Wayne has a blog for his school at http://torringtonmusic.blogspot.com/.
The TI:ME Teacher of the Year for 2008 was announced at our National Conference in Grand Rapids Michigan, January 24-26, 2008. Congratulations to Ace Martin.
Ace Martin Bio
This year's recipient of the Mike Kovins Teacher of the Year is Ace Martin.
Mr. Martin's interest in electronic music began as an inquisitive teacher exploring what the development of MIDI might mean for his students and the future of music education. He started pursuing the study of electronic music in a professional development class with Don Muro (now a TI:ME Instructor) at the University of Florida one summer and the rest is history! Ace has been on the forefront of using new ideas in Electronic Music with his students and has inspired them to embrace the creativity and uniqueness that Electronic Music holds for them.
After 5 years of consistently trying to influence administrators and county technology personnel, his school began offering classes in Electronic Music 1998. Those classes have grown from one class per year to now having a 23-station tech lab that is used during every class period of every day. Ace starts by providing first year students with a survey of all available programs that will help them with theory, musical skills, and performance. The school has even added a full-blown recording studio using the latest HD version of ProTools. Working together with an on-campus TV/Film department can create a variety of music for all types of media. In advanced courses, students generate a variety of music for CD, Film, and commercials.
Mr. Martin thrives on inspiring creativity and providing hands-on experience in this medium. Most of all, Mr. Martin's pride-and-joy are students who have studied electronic music at Douglas Anderson and are now successful in their musical ventures (including Ace's son Matthew who, as a student Florida State, is a budding film composer and at age 18 has already written music for 4 films incorporating tools he learned in electronic music).
Ace Martin has been on the forefront of developing the Instrumental Music Department as department chair at Douglas Anderson School of the Arts in Jacksonville, FL for 23 years. In his tenure, Ace has taught or directed Band, Orchestra, Jazz Band, Theory, and Electronic Music. His performing groups have consistently made superior ratings at District, National, and International Festivals. This past year, his Jazz Band was featured in a documentary film directed by Bruce Broder that follows the band's journey to Jazz at Lincoln Center's Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Competition & Festival, where his band won the competition. The film premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2007. His Jazz Band had also had the honor of performing at the Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic in Chicago. (Ace performed at the same clinic as a part of the St. John's River City Band.)
Ace Martin received a Bachelor of Music Education, and Master of Music Degree in Trumpet Performance from Florida State University. Mr. Martin has a wide background in both music education and performance. As a professional musician, Mr. Martin has pursued a varied background in classical and jazz. He has been a member of numerous symphony orchestras in Florida and Georgia, is a sought after soloist, has performed with many jazz artists, as a studio musician for commercials, and as a Broadway show pit-musician.
WYNCOTE, PA, March 1, 2007 -- TI:ME (The Technology Institute for Music Educators) has selected the winner of its "Teacher of the Year" award, an annual distinction that recognizes educators who have demonstrated outstanding abilities in the area of music education technology. This year's recipient was Michael Fein, a high school music educator from Haverford High School in Havertown, Pennsylvania.
Mr. Fein received an all expenses paid trip to Columbus and a plaque and letter of recognition that were presented during an awards ceremony at the recent Ohio Music Educators conference in January 2007. The prize package was courtesy of IAEKM (International Association of Electronic Keyboard Manufacturers).
Chosen from a distinguished group of educators who have shown their dedication to integrating technology in the music classroom, Mr. Fein commented, "TI:ME is an excellent organization that provides teachers with wonderful resources to help improve their teaching by integrating technology into their music classrooms. I am extremely honored to receive the 2007 Mike Kovins Teacher of the Year Award from such a superb organization."
TI:ME executive director John Dunphy notes, "Mike Fein is an outstanding role model for all music and arts educators. His mastery of music and audio tools, and exciting integration of technology in the classroom impacts his school, students and community. In fact Fein's digital recording program at Haverford High School has effectively doubled the number of students participating in the school's music program."
This is the first year that this award of excellence was presented in honor of ardent TI:ME supporter and past IAEKM president Mike Kovins, who passed away last year. TI:ME and IAEKM renamed the award for Kovins to recognize his life-long support of music education. On hand to present the award was his wife, Katherine Kovins.
Photo Caption: TI:ME executive director John Dunphy (L) and TI:ME president Thomas Rudolph (R) present the "Mike Kovins TI:ME Teacher of the Year Award" to Michael Fein.
See Mr. Fein's Web site at:
http://www.feinmusic.com/digitalrecording/Welcome.html
Karen
Garrett was selected by TI:ME as the 2006 TI:ME Teacher of the Year. In
addtion to her classroom achievements, her website, www.musictechteacher.com,
is an example of an extraordinary effort by an educator who utilizes technology
to its fullest extent. This site is an extension of Karen's music technology
classroom at Central Park School in Birmingham, AL. She has been teaching Instrumental
Music at Central Park since 1992. Over the years, this website has been a place
that many music educators have visited and have come away with great strategies
for their own work. Karen was honored at the TI:ME National Conference in Tampa,
Florida, on Wednesday, January 4 preceding the TI:ME Keynote address. Congratulations,
Karen.
Ms. Garrett, TI:ME Teacher of the Year for 2006, has been teaching Instrumental Music (Band) at Central Park School since 1992. She also directs the 3rd - 5th Grade students in the Music Technology Lab, established in 1997. Ms. Garrett started the Music Technology web site devoted specifically to the students and their work because it is such a popular class at the school.
The students are learning how to play the electronic keyboard and learning to read, write, compose, print and publish music using a computer.Students are chosen by their 3rd Grade Teachers to take the class. The number of students in Music Technology each year ranges from 110-140+ students per year. Each student receives one session (40 minutes) per week in the Lab. Students having access to keyboards, computers, and the Internet at home can access additional lessons and activities to enhance their music learning.
The students use Music Ace and Sibelius Software to assist in their music instruction. Some of the students' compositions are Sibelius Music Scorch files posted on the web site. Students also use various software programs such as Teach Me Piano, Discovering Keyboards and Musicus, along with taking music quizzes on the web site.
Karen's equipment is a combination of older computers and MIDI keyboards, along with music software. Most of it was purchased or obtained through donations.
Since 1992, Ms. Garrett has also taught at other Birmingham City Schools including Baker, Elyton, Price and Brown Elementary Schools and A.G. Gaston Middle School. She has taught numerous music technology in-services beginning in 1994 to general music teachers and band directors, as well as beginning digital photography / imaging / computer graphics in-services to general education elementary teachers.
She has attended many in-services related to music technology, including the combined state and national TI:ME Conferences with the MENC in Nashville, TN, Pasadena, CA, San Antonio, TX and Tampa, FL. She has also attended the Technological Directions in Music Learning (TDML) Conference in San Antonio, TX, the National Symposium for Music Instructional Technology (NSMIT) Conferences in Auburn, AL and presented a music technology session at the Alabama Music Educators Association (AMEA) Conference. Ms. Garrett completed requirements for TI:ME 1A Certification in 2006.
The website domain purchase, creation, development, pictures, work and maintenance are a free service provided by Ms. Garrett to the students and faculty at Central Park, the music teachers in Birmingham and other schools, and as a resource to the Internet community. Ms. Garrett is a member of the Technology Institute for Music Educators, the Music Educators' National Conference, the Alabama Bandmasters Association and the Association for Technology in Music Instruction (ATMI).
The
2005 TI:ME Teacher of the Year is Amy Burns. She is a graduate of Ithaca College
and completed her master’s work at Central Connecticut State
University in 2005. Her teaching career has been in New Jersey and
at the Far Hills Country Day School since 1997. She teaches general music to
Pre-Kindergarten to Grade Five. She is the founder and director of the school
orchestra, the FHCDS Philharmonic and the Far Hills Conservatory, where she
supervises private lessons. In addition to being certified Level 1 & 2
by TI:ME she is also
recognized with an Orff-Schulwerk Level 1.
A frequent contributor to “The TI:MEs”, the newsletter of the Technology Institute for Music Educators, Amy has been active in the SummerTI:ME classroom working with TI:ME classes at Temple University. She has presented at the NJAIS, MENC, PMEA, NJMEA, TMEA and MMEA Conferences. Recently she authored an article for Music Education Technology (MET) magazine and contributed her thoughts to the IMHO section of ti-me.org. Her most distinguishing and outstanding feature is how she creatively weaves everything together into the instruction of students in the classroom. She learns from her own curiosity and experimentation to improve on the successes. She received the highly competitive Faculty Technology Award in recognition of her leadership, creative application and classroom integration of technology. The school’s computer experts and beginners alike seek her technical prowess and enthusiastic support. Each day more than 100 students between the ages of three and nine learn to sing, read music and play. Using technology or traditional instruments, she makes a difference in the school’s musical environment. A team player, she is working every day to improve music education for her students and encouraging and mentoring her colleagues. Amy Burns is a champion for Music Technology, a dedicated music educator and the 2005 TI:ME Teacher of the Year. An update to her biography is available as a PDF file here.
A Note from Amy Burns on how the TI:ME Teacher of the Year 2005 has enhanced her professional life:
I am thankful to the Technology Institute of Music Educators (TI:ME) for honoring me with the 2005 Teacher of the Year Award. This award has opened doors for me that I would have never thought possible when I graduated from Ithaca College in 1995. I have thoroughly enjoyed authoring articles, lesson plans, and presenting at various state and national conferences. One of the best experiences I had this year was meeting many other music teachers who are interested, and at the same time a little fearful, of implementing technology into their music classrooms. It was wonderful to see those teachers become aware of just how easy it is to enhance their music lessons with technology. The fact that more of these music teachers are attending TI:ME conferences, reading TI:ME articles, or just visiting TI:ME’s website, signifies that technology will be a constant tool in the music classroom. I am thrilled that TI:ME has given me the opportunity to contribute to this and assist music teachers with that ever-so-cautious leap into the world of music technology. I am excited to see what this future holds for my own elementary students at Far Hills Country Day School and what it holds for TI:ME.
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Photos of Amy Burns receiving the Teacher of the Year award
from TI:ME Executive Director, John Dunphy |
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