This afternoon’s flight from Omaha to Washington D.C. was very full and very smooth.  I’m fortunate to have a great friend/colleague to ride to Omaha with and share the flight. A half hour late leaving, but early to arrive on a beautiful sunny day in our nation’s capital.  There is something so inspiring about seeing familiar monuments as you get ready to land, hovering over the Potomac right before you touch down on the runway.

Other friends, old and new are trickling in from all over the country.  We’re greeted with smiles and hugs by leaders from different divisions from across the country and I’m again reminded of what an honor it is to be included in this stellar group of people.  There’s familiarity in the location – my room is somehow again on the 7th floor, one of those funky shaped rooms in this tall, round hotel.  The little luxuries of traveling alone await me; a king-sized bed with four pillows to myself, a bathroom that I don’t have to share, a mini-fridge with only diet cokes, just for me!  (Don’t tell my husband! : )

Tomorrow morning begins five intense days of information, discussions, brainstorming and networking, all in the name of music education.  People representing everything from PreK-PhD, all types of ensembles, traditional and not so traditional, research, curriculum and so many more areas will be there.  It’s a nerd’s dream!  The payoff for long days is food -LOTS of food.  All day long. With desserts for both lunch and dinner.  It’s both a blessing and a curse as I hope I’ll be able to wear the clothes I brought with me towards the end of the week!

This will be my sixth year of participating in this event, four as a state leader and now my second as a division president-elect, and I’m just as excited to attend this year as I’ve been before.  The week will consist of two days of National Executive Board meetings, a day on Capital Hill to talk to all of our Nebraska senators and representatives and then two additional days meeting with state presidents from around the country to discuss how we as an organization can help teachers and their students in light of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), which includes music as a part of a well-rounded education.  This years focus on Capital Hill will be allocation of funds for Titles I, II and IV.  ESSA holds such promise for our nation’s children, but only if adequate funding is realized.  So convincing lawmakers of this will be a focus this week.

So assuming I don’t completely crash at the end of each day, the idea is to share the great and small of what happens during this week and hopefully it will inspire some of you to get involved in doing something in an area where you are most passionate.  Until tomorrow….