Reflection!
August 28, 2012Taking a look back, a look forward
When Rob Westerberg’s blog post popped into my inbox yesterday I took a break from working and read his post. It proved to be one of those pieces written that causes me to pause and think deeply about the work we’ve done in arts education in Maine for many years. Some of you might know Betty Atterbury, perhaps even had her as a music professor. Like Rob, I never had the opportunity to meet her. After reading about her I imagined meeting this woman who clearly had an impact on Maine arts education. I was mostly interested in the work she did and the parallels to the present work in arts education.
I hope you’ll take a minute to pause and read Rob’s post at http://goobermusicteachers.wordpress.com/2012/08/26/what-would-betty-atterbury-say/ If you knew Betty, I’d love for you to post a comment on the meartsed blog. Thanks!
We have much to be proud and I am humbled by the outstanding work that takes place each day in arts education in Maine!
me arts ed 
This comment is from Jenni Null, Fine Arts Coordinator in SAD#61. I thought I would just share a personal recollection of Betty Atterbury. When she was in the midst of medical treatments one of her last years, we were having our District Elementary Choral Festival, called Circle the State with Song, at USM. I was in charge of the logistics, but Betty took the time to be sure I had everything I needed. I will never forget that on the actual day of the festival, she dashed off to one of her treatments in the afternoon, returning just in time to introduce me, as well as the conductor, to the audience. Betty gave an impassioned introduction to the audience about the importance of music education for children and the choral festival in particular. Needless to say, we were all tremendously uplifted by her remarks. Her dedication and tireless energy set an example for us all that we music educators still find inspiring all these years later…