Dr. Mary Palmer is 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. Her most recent position was as Professor and Coordinator of Graduate Studies in Music Education at the University of Central Florida, Orlando; she previously served as Dean of the UCF College of Education. Palmer is senior author of Pre-Kindergarten through grade 8 music textbook series published by Silver Burdett Ginn. She is the Founder, first and current Director of Florida’s Arts for a Complete Education/The Florida Alliance for Arts Education organization and has been instrumental in developing programs and policies affecting arts education in Florida. Her intergenerational program for babies from birth to twenty-four months has gained national attention. She has established award-winning collaborative programs with Walt Disney World, Florida Department of Juvenile Justice, Junior Achievement and others. She was a recipient of many awards, including the Arts Recognition Award from the Florida Department of State.

Ms. Hernandez-Black has a Masters of Education from the University of Central Florida and has over twenty-four years of experience in non-profit administration, specializing in program design and coalition development. She spent fourteen years working in formal education designing programs for the Orlando Science Center working with six school districts and building community partnership. She is well known for her development of the YouthALIVE! Program, which focuses on leadership skills for youth and the development of a Pre-Service Teacher Internship Program. She spent ten years in social services designing mental health programs and developing of natural support systems of care. She has served as a grant reviewer for the Federal Department of Health and Human Services, National Science Foundation, and the Museum Institute and served on the National Steering Committee for the Safe Schools/Healthy Students Action Center. In 1999, she was appointment by the Florida Senate to serve on Governor Bush’s Statewide Formulary Study Panel. She has served on the National Steering Committee of Safe Schools/Healthy Students Technical Action Center, Heart of Florida United Way’s Council of Agency Executives, Community Service Network Board, Orange County Public Schools Safe Advisory Coalition, and the Howard Philips Children and Families Community Leadership Committee.

Coming Soon

Ms. Grey is the President of Sara Van Alstyne Old Paintings, Inc. She holds a bachelor's degree in Art Education from Nazareth College and a master's degree in Elementary Education from Russell Sage College. Ms, Grey is currently a doctoral student at the University of Central Florida and a Graduate Research Assistant. She has served on and chaired various non-profit boards and is a member of the Smithsonian American Art Museum Director's Circle and many other arts and cultural organizations

Holds a Bachelor of Music in Music Therapy from the University of Miami, and a Master of Arts in Music Education from the University of Central Florida. Her teaching background includes elementary, middle and high school. After serving as the Director of Admission and Recruitment at the University of Miami's Frost School of Music. She has just relocated back to the Orlando area with her husband John. She is an adjunct professor in music education at the University of Central Florida. She teaches in the Connect with Music program.

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.

Putting Creativity to Work (Middle School Career Exploration Project)
Andrea Tobin recently completed her Master’s Degree in Music Education at the University of Central Florida. She received her Bachelor’s Degree in Music Education from the Florida State University and has taught in Florida’s public schools for 18 years, teaching Middle School and Jr. High School Band, Chorus, and General Music. Her bands have received superior ratings at Concert Music Performance Assessments and she has had numerous students in the All-County and All-State performing ensembles.

Mrs. Tobin has been teaching privately for the last four years, while her daughter, Hannah, has been of preschool age. She remains an active adjudicator, conductor, and clinician and has served on various committees at the district and state levels. She has also been teaching babies and their special adults, in the Connect with Music program. Mrs. Tobin was selected as “Teacher of the Year” at Teague Middle School, in Altamonte Springs (Seminole County) and has served as the conductor of the Florida All-State Middle School Honor Band. She enjoys the tremendous enthusiasm and potential of the middle school aged student!