The Florida Music Educators’ Association (FEMA) will be holding its 65th Annual In-Service Clinic-Conference January 7-10, 2009 at the Tampa Convention Center.

Students of FMEA members will also come together as members of the All-State Bands, Orchestras, and Choruses and will rehearse selections for 2-3 days before their performances.

The senior All-State ensembles will be performing at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center on Saturday, January 10, 2009 at 2:00, 5:00, and 8:00 P.M.

Victoria Buffkin, a 10th grade member of the A. Crawford Mosley High School Band will be participating in the conference as a member of the 9th and 10th Grade All-State Orchestra.

“The long term effects of music in consecutive years have been well documented to show improved achievement in all academic areas,” said Mosley Band Director Jamie Birdwell. He also quoted a recent Harris poll whose results indicate that “Seventy-two percent of adults with music education agree that it equips people to be better team players in their career and nearly six in ten agree that music education has influenced their creative problem solving skills. Many also agree that music education provides a disciplined approach to problem solving, a sense of organization and prepares someone to manage the tasks of their job more successfully.”

James Perry, Executive Director of FMEA, says, “Our in-service conference has been providing professional development for music educators for many years. Typically, this kind of professional development is impossible for most school districts to provide as most simply lack the resources. We focus on the issues and topics that directly improve classroom instruction and are of timely importance to our members.”

The conference is the largest of its kind for music educators, which also hosts a trade show of vendors and music industry companies consisting of more than 400 booths. It also includes 200 individual workshops and seminars for educators.