Page 102 - CJJan24

2024 ACDA Southwestern Region Conference February 27 - March 2, 2024 Denver, Colorado

Immersion Days
Immersion Da ys

Secondary and Late High School ment to education earned him the Missouri Governor’s
Award for Excellence in Teaching. As a celebrated com-
poser, he received awards for his songs and piano pieces.
Pamela Dawson, William George-Twyman, and Jim Furthermore, he boasts a rich performance career as
Henry, coordinators a two-time Barbershop Harmony Society International
quartet champion bass with Crossroads. He will make
Pamela Dawson, born in Detroit, Michi- his Carnegie Hall conducting debut in June.
gan, began studying music at the age of
seven on the piano taught by her father.
She continued in music throughout her “So…what is it you say you do here?”
education and was greatly influenced by Defining the Role of the Modern Secondary Teacher
her god-sister, Dorothy Ashby, a well-renowned jazz
harpist. She graduated from Cass Technical High As secondary choir directors, we wear a bunch of dif-
School as a vocational music major and holds a bach- ferent hats. We’re so used to “making it work” that we
elor of arts in communications and theater with an sometimes forget what we were hired to do. During this
emphasis in music and business from Eastern Michi- session, attendees will work on narrowing and defin-
gan University. She studied harp with Ruth Myers and ing exactly what it is we do in the classroom/rehearsal
master classes with the late Lucille Lawrence. She is space. By the end of the session, attendees will have
the director of choral activities at Desoto High School written a full job description so that they can have more
and the 2023 GRAMMY Music Educator of the Year. honest and productive conversations with their adminis-
trators regarding time commitment, compensation, etc.
William George-Twyman is a dedicated
educator and seasoned choral conductor, Pamela Dawson, William George-Twyman and Jim
currently serving as the head of choral Henry will be the presenters for this session.
studies at Booker T. Washington High
School for the Performing and Visual
Arts. He has recently taken on the role of assistant
director of the Music Conservatory for Curriculum/ Developing Professionals…Artistically!
Instruction. Renowned for his innovative program-
ming and multimedia collaborations, he has wielded How many times have you sat in a PD session that
the baton for musical theater productions and inter- doesn’t address your teaching circumstances? How of-
national performances. He is a trained countertenor, ten have you been frustrated by yet another STEM pre-
showcasing his vocal talents in a wide array of classical sentation that forgets you exist? Don’t you wish it was
works. He earned his DMA in choral conducting from different? During this session, attendees will design an
the University of Oklahoma, a master of sacred music, outline for a professional development workshop that
master of music in choral conducting, and a BME. they would like to present in their home districts. By
showing the other disciplines what’s really going on in
Jim Henry, serves as the director of cho- the choir room, we can help our colleagues understand
ral studies at the University of Missouri- and develop better teaching methodology that takes the
St. Louis. With a PhD in music compo- arts-minded student into account.
sition from Washington University, he
conducts University Singers and Vocal Pamela Dawson, William George-Twyman and Jim
Point and teaches courses in choral methods, choral Henry will be the presenters for this session.
conducting, and choral arranging. Henry’s commit-

100 CHORAL JOURNAL January 2024 Volume 64 Number 5