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ABOUT US: BOARD & STAFF MEMBERS
Board Members
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Jennifer Coolidge, President
Executive Director, Museum of Florida Art
Deland, FL
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Jennifer Coolidge has over 23 years of
experience as an arts administrator. Coolidge
has served as the Executive Director for the Museum
of Florida Art since 2001; Executive Director
for Florida Alliance for Art Education, FAAE (1995-2001);
Education Coordinator for the Atlantic Center
for the Arts in New Smyrna Beach, FL and served
in education positions for the Southeastern Center
for Contemporary Art, Winston Salem-Forsyth County
Arts Council, Sawtooth Center for Visual Art in
Winston Salem, NC and others in North Carolina.
She has also served as a consultant, presenter
and grant panelist for such organizations as The
Center for Human Rights and Civil Liberties at
The University of Southern Mississippi; Arts Extension
Service, University of Massachusetts; ICARE, Initiative
for Cultural Arts and Education in Cleveland,
Ohio; United Arts of Central Florida, Florida
Division of Cultural Affairs, and Rochester Contemporary
Art Center in Rochester, NY and the Arts Council
of Asheville, NC. Coolidge graduated with a B.A.
in Fine Art from Guilford College in Greensboro,
NC and completed a fellowship with the Denali
Initiative on Social Enterprise in 2000 through
The Kauffman Center on Entrepreneurial Leadership.
Coolidge has received such awards as an Ambassador
of the Arts Award from Florida First Lady, Columba
Bush, in 2005; Distinguished Service Award from
the Florida Music Educators Association in 2002,
and the ACE of Hearts Award from FAAE in 2001.
Coolidge serves as Past President of the Volusia
County Cultural Alliance, and serves on the Board
of Trustees for the Florida House in Washington,
DC.
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Sibille Pritchard, Past-President
Senior Vice President, Brooksville Development
Corporation
Oviedo, FL
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| Sibille
Hart Pritchard is Senior Vice President of the
Brooksville Development Corporation. She is Past
President of the Association to Preserve the Eatonville
Community, Inc., the Zora Neale Hurston Festival,
and the Board of Directors of the Orlando Ballet.
As President of Global Connections of Central
Florida at the University of Central Florida as
well as Chair of the Florida/Southeast U.S. -
Japan Association, Sibille provides an international
perspective. Sibille also serves as a Commissioner
for the Seminole County Housing Authority, and
is a board member of the Florida Chamber of Commerce,
Florida State University’s Medical School
Community Board, and the Dr. Phillips Performing
Arts Center in Orlando. She is former Chair of
the Florida Arts Council, a past board member
of the Florida Executive Women organization, and
the Governor's Council of Libraries. |
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Tom Pearson, Ed.D.,
President-Elect
K-12 Arts Education Administrator, Palm Beach
County Schools
West Palm Beach, FL
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Dr. Tom Pearson is the Arts
Education Administrator for the School
District of Palm Beach County, and a thirty-two-year
veteran in the field of education. For twenty
of those years, he taught band at the elementary,
middle, and high
school levels, and conducted two community
bands. Dr. Pearson is a Past President
of the Mississippi Bandmasters Association, where
he taught band for 12 years before moving to Florida.
Since moving to Florida, he has served as District
Chairman for FBA District 14 and Chairman of the
FBA Ethics Committee for two terms.
He has served as the Vice President for Governmental
Relations on the Florida Alliance for Arts Education/Arts
for a Complete Education Board of Directors and
the Governmental and Community Relations Chair
for the Florida
Music Educators’ Association. He
is past president of the Florida Music Supervisors
Association and a past board member on the Florida
School Music Association. Dr. Pearson also serves
on the education boards of the Raymond F. Kravis
Center for the Performing Arts and the Norton
Museum of Art. He is currently serving
as the president of the Palm Beach County Administrative
Staff Association.
Dr. Pearson was the Magnet/Choice Program Specialist
and Acting Director for the School District of
Palm Beach County. Dr. Pearson is a frequent conference
presenter for student recruitment/assignment,
and partnership and funding at the international
level. He has been an adjunct
professor for Palm
Beach Community College and currently an
adjunct professor in the Interdisciplinary Arts
graduate program at Nova
Southeastern University. Dr. Pearson
has adjudicated for the Florida Bandmasters Association,
Bands of America, Heritage
Festivals, and Drum Corps International
throughout the United States. Dr. Pearson
was the recipient of the 2009 FAAE Administration
and Leadership Award for the State of Florida.
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Jayne Ellsperman, Past President
Florida Association of School Administrators |
| Jayne Ellspermann is the Principal of
West Port High School in Ocala, Florida. West
Port High School is the home for Marion County Center
for the Arts magnet program in visual and performing
arts. West Port High School was recently identified
as a FAAE Arts Achieve Model School. She represents
the Florida Association of School Administrators on the
FAAE board. Jayne is also on the Florida Association
for Secondary School Administrators Board of Directors.
She has served as President of the Ocala Civic Theatre
Board of Directors and President of the Marion Performing
Ballet Board of Directors. She holds a B.A. in Psychology
from the University of Georgia and a M.Ed. in Educational
Administration and Supervision from the University of
Florida. |
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Cindy Balistreri, Vice President for Education
Fine Arts Specialist, Sarasota County School Board
Sarasota, FL |
Lucinda G. Balistreri has worked as
an arts educator in the Sarasota County school district
for 34 years. She graduated from the Florida State
University with a bachelor’s degree in Music Education and from
the University of South Florida with a master’s
degree in Education Administration/Supervision. She
taught elementary music, middle school chorus, pre-school
music, and general classroom for Grades 4 and 5. She
has been selected Elementary Teacher of the Year (1992)
Sarasota County and Florida Music Educator of the Year
(1994) the Florida Music Educators’ Association.
She has served on writing committees at the state level
for the Sunshine State Standards, Course Descriptions,
and Grade Level Expectations. She has served as president
of the Florida Elementary Music Educators Association,
the Florida Music Supervision Association, and is the
past president of the Florida Music Educators’ Association.
Her current position in Sarasota County is as the Fine
Arts Program Specialist in the Curriculum Department
of the school district.
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Sherron Long, Vice President of Advocacy
and Awareness
Florida Cultural Alliance
West Palm Beach, FL
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| Sherron is president and founder of Creating
Executive Options Inc., a management and planning consulting
business. She manages three statewide service organizations:
the Florida Professional Theatres Association, which
she created in 1981; the Florida Cultural Alliance, which
she co-founded in 1983; and the Florida Association of
Local Arts Agencies. Prior to Creating Executive Options
in 1985, she developed the grants program for the Palm
Beach County Cultural Council’s Tourist Development
Cultural Activities Program and co-hosted and co-produced
a weekly television show about the arts. She worked at
the Florida Department of State Division of Cultural
Affairs and Florida Arts Council from 1978 to 1983 as
an arts administrator, where she created and managed
the State Touring Program; initiated the first statewide
Florida Dance Association summer dance festival and the
first statewide conferences for local arts agencies and
sponsors and presenters. Sherron has been an on-site
evaluator for the National Endowment for the Arts' Dance
Program and has served as president of the State Arts
Advocacy League of America, the former national organization
for state arts advocacy organizations. Sherron has received
many honors including the Florida ArtsPAC Cultural Advocacy
Award; the Florida Department of State Arts Recognition
Award; Arts & Business Council of Miami Arts Advocate
of the Year Award, the Art Serve Individual Leadership
Encore Award. Sherron taught theatre, speech, dance,
and humanities at the high school and university levels
and has directed and choreographed a number of productions
in educational and professional settings. She has a B.A.
in Speech and Drama from Valdosta State University and
an M.F.A. in Directing from Florida State University's
School of Theatre. |
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Scott Evans, Co-chair
of Coalitions
Executive Director, Orange
County Arts Education Center
Orlando,
FL
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| Scott Evans is the Director of the Orange
County Arts Education Center in Orlando Florida. The
Arts Education Center is working to ensure equal access
for all to high-quality arts education experiences. Scott
also serves on the advisory board for A Gift for Music,
the Florida Festival Singers and the Florida Alliance
for Arts Education. Scott received his Masters Degree
from the University of Central Florida and is a recipient
of the National Board Teachers Certificate. His teaching
experiences included; elementary, middle and high school
and he has served as a guest clinician and conductor
at honor choruses throughout the state of Florida. Scott
is thrilled to be leading the Orange County Arts Education
Center towards building connectivity, collaboration and
support among Orange County’s Leaders, citizens,
nonprofit organizations, educational institutions and
businesses to make high-quality arts education accessible
and a source of pride to all.
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Bob Radock, Chairman
of Awards
Walt Disney World Resorts
Lake Buena Vista, FL
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Bob Radock has been passionate about
the arts for more than forty years. Receiving his BM,
MM at the University of Michigan, Bob has worked with
and served as an advocate for arts and music education
initiatives in Florida and through the country. Bob
has served in a leadership capacity with Walt Disney
Entertainment for thirty years producing shows, special
events, festivals, concert series, press events and
casting and hiring performers, international shows
and celebrities.
Bob has been a Past President of FAAE and served on
the Board since 2003. He is active in the community,
serving local and national organizations including
Board of Trustees-Interlochen Center for the Arts,
Grammy Board of Governors, Florida Youth Symphony,
Florida PTA, United Arts of Central Florida, WMFE and
Stetson University. His professional memberships include
FMEA, FBA, MENC, ABA, ACDA and The Recording Academy.
Radock has been honored receiving The Disney Dream
Spinner Award of Excellence, Distinguished Service
Award and installation into the MENC Walk of Fame.
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Bruce Rodgers, Chair of Nominating
Executive Director, Hermitage Artist Retreat
Manasota Key, FL
Hermitage Artist Retreat |
| Bruce Rodgers began his theatrical career
in 1977 at the GeVa Theatre in Rochester, NY. He has
also affiliated with the Tony-award winning McCarter
Theatre in Princeton, NJ, as resident playwright, and
the Asolo Theatre Company in Sarasota, FL. As a
playwright, his drama Lost Electra won the prestigious
Lois and Richard Rosenthal New Play Prize in Cincinnati,
and a Dramalogue Award in Los Angeles. It has been
produced at numerous regional theatres throughout the
United States. In 1992, he was commissioned to
write the very successful Centerburg Tales for
the Asolo Theatre. His play, The Gravity of
Honey, has also seen numerous American productions,
including at the Asolo Theatre in 1995. It opened
in Dublin with the Dublin International Theatre Festival
in October 1996 and most recently at the Chester Theatre
Company in Chester, Mass. Mr. Rodgers is a MacDowell
Colony Fellow, a Seaside Institute "Escape to Create" Fellow.
He was named a Distinguished Artist by the New Jersey
State Council on the Arts, and has won a Playwriting
Fellowship from the Florida Division of Cultural Affairs.
In 1998 the Sarasota County Arts Council awarded him
a special "Renaissance Leadership Award". |
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Katherine Ramsberger
President, Dr. P. Phillips Orlando Performing Arts
Center
Orlando, FL
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Kathy Ramsberger is the President of
the Dr. P. Phillips Orlando Performing Arts Center
(DPAC), an independent non-profit 501(C)3 organization
dedicated to develop, build, and operate a destination
that elevates the arts, provides the best arts education,
generates urban renewal and most importantly, is programmed
to be fiscally responsible in construction and operations.
Kathy is a former film commissioner for the Metro Orlando
Economic Development Commission. As a volunteer, Kathy
is an executive committee member of the Coalition for
the Homeless of Central Florida. Kathy is a graduate
of Leadership Orlando Class 33 and served as Chair
of Leadership Orlando Class 39. The Orlando Business
Journal (OBJ) selected Kathy as one of its “Women
Who Mean Business in Metro Orlando” in 1999,
2000, 2001, and 2007. She was also named to the
OBJ’s “Forty Under Forty list.”
She currently resides in Orlando and has two children. |
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Dr. Linda Lovins, Ex officio
Performing and Fine Arts Program Specialist,
Florida Department of Education
Tallahassee , FL
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Dr. Linda Lovins is the Arts Education
Specialist for the Florida Department of Education.
She holds degrees in K-12 Music Education from
the Crane School of Music at Potsdam State University,
Potsdam, New York; and earned her doctorate in
Choral Music Education from The Florida State
University. A veteran K-20 music educator, Dr.
Lovins held various leadership positions in New
York State prior to moving to Tallahassee in
1998. As Program Director for the Florida Alliance
for Arts Education, Dr. Lovins led advocacy efforts
and development of curricular materials and programs.
Now at the Department of Education, she works
with state and national arts education associations
and agencies; provides direction for major initiatives
and programs; provides professional development
across Florida; and works extensively with Standards,
curricula, and model programs in Dance, Music,
Theatre, and Visual Art. Dr. Lovins currently
serves as the Vice President of the State Education
Agency Arts Education Directors. She is also
Director of Music at Lafayette Presbyterian Church
in Tallahassee. Dr. Lovins is very passionate
about children, their potential, and their implicit
right to a high-quality arts program as an integral
part of a world-class education. |
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Mary Palmer, Treasurer
Founder, ACE & FAAE
Orlando, FL
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Dr. Mary Palmeris President of Mary Palmer & Associates, LLC, a consulting
firm specializing in the arts and education. Drawing on her four decades in public
education and community leadership, Mary works with schools throughout the country
to assist them in developing and implementing arts integration programs to maximize
student success and enliven schools.
Mary was named Professor Emerita by the University of Central Florida in 2007.
While at UCF, she was Professor and Coordinator of Graduate Studies in Music
Education at the University of Central Florida, Orlando as well as Dean of the
College of Education. Palmer is senior author of Pre-Kindergarten through grade
8 music textbook series published by Silver Burdett Ginn/Scott Foresman. She
is the Founderr of Florida's Arts for a Complete
Education/ Florida Alliance for Arts Education organization and has been instrumental in developing programs
and policies affecting arts education in Florida. She sits on numerous Boards
including Florida Theatrical Association, Florida Music Educators Association,A
Gift for Teaching, and the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra. Her intergenerational
program for babies from birth to twenty-four months, Connect with Music, has
gained national attention. She has been the recipient of many awards, including
the Arts Recognition Award from the Florida Department of State.
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Laura Lewis Blischke, Ex officio
Program Manager for Arts in Education
Florida Department of State/Div. of Cultural Affairs
Tallahassee , FL
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Laura joined the staff in the summer
of 2006. Passionate about the arts, she enjoyed
a ten-year career with the Walt Disney Company.
Ms. Blischke worked as a professional dancer who
performed stage shows at the Magic Kingdom and EPCOT
Center, and later as a Staging Specialist teaching
on-property shows at the Magic Kingdom. She assisted
on many Disney special events, and choreographed
for seasonal parades. Laura holds a Bachelor of
Arts Degree in Dance with an emphasis on teaching
from Virginia Intermont College. She has also choreographed
for USFSA figure skaters, with former students competing
at the local, regional and national level.
At the Division, she oversees the Underserved Cultural
Community Development and Arts in Education initiatives
as well as all REDI (Rural Economic Development
Initiative) issues.
Laura lives in Tallahassee with her husband Karl
and two beautiful daughters Olivia and Kate. In
her spare time she enjoys photography, reading,
working in her yard, and going to the beach. She
also writes poetry and several of her pieces have
been published through online reviews. |
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Kay Allen, Ph.D., Principal
Investigator, ACE Grant
Professor, University of
Central Florida, College of Education
Orlando,
FL
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| Coming soon.
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Lawrie Platt Hall,
Member at Large, FAAE
Platt Hall & Associates
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| Coming soon.
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Martha
Gutierrez- Steinkamp,
Member at Large, FAAE
Director, National Council of Hispanic Women
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Ms. Gutiérrez-Steinkamp is a former Deputy Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts and later the Board of Experts Commission for the Preservation of the White House by Presidential appointment. She serves on the U. S. Senate Task Force for Hispanic Affairs, is liaison member of the Civil Society of the Organization of American States (OAS), and Director of the National Council of Hispanic Women. Presently a Consultant for Schoolhouse Children’s Museum, Museum of Florida History, Archdiocese of Miami, and DOE Washington DC.
Ms. Steinkamp is a graduate of Havana Conservatory of Music, studied ballet with Michael Fokine at Carnegie Hall; attended Villanova University School of International Law, continuing advanced studies in Cultural Management, Museum Studies and Cultural Conservation at the University of Victoria and is certified to teach K-12 Humanities and Professional Education in Florida. |
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Nancy
Roucher,
Member at Large, FAAE
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| Coming soon.
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Deanna
Costa,
Member at Large, FAAE
Director
of Education, Adrienne Arsht Center of the Performing Arts
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| Coming soon.
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Jennifer
Jones,
Member at Large, FAAE
Executive Director, Bay Arts Alliance
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| Jennifer N. Jones has been with Bay
Arts Alliance since 2000 and has been the Executive
Director since 2002. After graduating Florida State
University School of Music, she held positions
in accounting and marketing which eventually led
her to a marketing position with Bay Arts Alliance,
Bay County Florida’s Local Arts Agency. Since
then, she has acquired the responsibilities of
programming and marketing for the organization’s
performance series, arts in education activities,
promoting the efforts of the county’s artists
and arts organization and advocating for both the
Arts as an industry and in Florida schools. She
also serves on the board of Bay Regional Juvenile
Detention Center in Panama City, FL. She is married
to Bill and they have one daughter, Maggie, who
just began fifth grade band at Bay Haven Charter
Academy.
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Shigeko
Honda,
Member at Large, FAAE
Director, Japan Center at the University
of West Florida
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Ms. Honda is director of the Japan
Center at the University of West Florida Japan
House, the Jikei-American Center and the Florida-Japan
Linkage Institute. She has organized numerous exhibitions,
performing arts, lectures, symposiums and Japanese
cultural events, and has lectured on Japan for
various organizations. Ms. Honda has managed the
exchange of thousands of students between the U.S.
and Japan and initiated the involvement of hundreds
of local host families who support the exchange
programs.
Ms. Shigeko Honda was educated in both America and Japan. She received an Associate
Degree in English Literature from the Komazawa Junior College in Tokyo, Japan
and earned both her Bachelor's Degree and Master's Degree from the University
of West Florida (UWF) in Pensacola in Interdisciplinary Humanities with a concentration
in Art History, Religion and Philosophy.
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STAFF MEMBERS
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Susan Burke, Executive
Director
Sarasota, FL
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Susan Burke brings a wide range of experience
to her role of Executive Director at the Florida Alliance
for Arts Education. She was Director
of Education at the Sarasota
County Arts Council from 2002 - 2005 where she
coordinated the Artists in Schools program which brought
professional artists into Sarasota
Public Schools classrooms to teach reading, math,
science, and social
studies curriculum. Since 2002, she has served
on the Community/Schools Partnership for
the Arts, an Advisory
Committee to the District Superintendent and on
the Arts Education Task Force, a community coalition
that supports arts education in Sarasota
County. Susan played a pivotal role last year
in developing and advancing a strategy to integrate
Career, Technical Education and Arts courses in high
school Small Learning Communities in the Sarasota Schools
so that graduating seniors have been taught to the
professional standards required in a number of careers
in the arts. Since
1996, she has administered Encore! Ensemble
Theatre Workshop, a summer program that brings
together teens from around the world to study and create
theatre.
In
addition to her work in arts education,
Burke, who has an MBA in Integrative Management
from Michigan State University and a B.S. in Civil
Engineering from the University
of Toledo, has extensive experience
in the private sector in project management,
information management, new media and marketing,
and nuclear power plant licensing. |
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Rebekah Pearson
Program Assistant
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Rebekah Pearson is a South
Florida native who moved to Orlando to continue her
college education. IN 2008, she received her Associate
of Arts degree at Valencia Community College. At
V.C.C., Rebekah was on the Dean’s list and
was a member of Phi Theta Kappa National Honor Society.
She is currently working on her Bachelor’s
degree in Elementary Education at the University
of Central Florida. Rebekah values arts education
and is excited about her work with FAAE.
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Dr. Al Holcomb
Mentor Coordinator
Arts Education for Highly Effective Teacher Development Pilot Program
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Al Holcomb is a frequent presenter
and author on the topics of mentoring, professional
development, music assessment, middle level choral
music education and aural skill development. Dr.
Holcomb has helped to design and implement large-scale
professional development and assessment projects
in Connecticut and Florida and has co-chaired the
Florida Music Assessment project since 2001. He is
Associate Professor of Music at the University of
Central Florida where he teaches undergraduate and
graduate courses in music education, coordinates
undergraduate music education, advises, supervises
interns, and conducts the Women’s Chorus’.
He has taught all levels of general and choral music
in Texas and Connecticut. Dr. Holcomb is past president
of Florida College Music Educators’ Association
and is Collegiate Advisor for FCMENC.
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