Welcome from President Kaye!
Greetings and welcome to a new school year!
My name is Kaye Waltner, and I am President of South Dakota American Choral Directors Association. I teach music at Sioux Falls Whittier Middle School and I want to welcome each of you to a new year. Summer goes fast, and before we know it, we are back ready to make music and inspire those we teach through the choral art, where our specialty is in the elementary, middle school, high school, collegiate classroom, or church choir.
I want to let you know that South Dakota American Choral Directors Association is a great place to find some new teaching ideas, some new friends, and some support for what we do daily. SD-ACDA also sponsors state honor choirs including our SD Junior Honor Choir, and our SD High School Honor Choir. This year, there will be honor choir opportunities available for an honor choir in Milwaukee. This honor choir is sponsored by North Central ACDA and Central ACDA. In order for your students to audition, you must be a member of ACDA, which also includes being a member of SD-ACDA. An annual membership to join is $125.00. Additionally, SD-ACDA has 10 complimentary memberships available to first-time and lapsed members. If you are interested in that option, please contact me at: kaye.waltner@k12.sd.us
Dates to put on your calendar for the year are:
SD Junior Honor Choir
SD Junior honor choir auditions: Students eligible to audition- grades 7, 8, 9. September 3-October 5
SD Junior Honor Choir and Winter Conference- Jan. 17 and 18, 2020- Rapid City. More information on SD-ACDA Website at: www.sd-acda.org
Regional ACDA Conference and Honor Choir
Milwaukee, WI- Mar. 4-7, 2020
Registration for the conference opens Oct. 1, 2019
Information at ACDA website at: www.ncacda.org
SD High School Honor Choir
SD Honor Choir auditions in April, 2020 at different sites across South Dakota.
Deadline to send auditions in is: March 1, 2020.
More information on SD-ACDA Website at: www.sd-acda.org
Other benefits from membership to ACDA include:
-Networking with music educators from across South Dakota and the region
-Receiving the Choral Journal each month with great teaching tips and tricks
-Option for your students to attend Next Direction, a program dedicated to helping high school students learn about being a music teacher. Additional information at: www.acda.org/ACDA/Nextdirection
-Receiving the SD-ACDA newsletter 4 times a year with information about coming events, and some great articles about teaching.
SD-ACDA is a great resource for you! Please know that we are here to serve you and do what we can to help your year be a success!!
Please feel free to reach out to me at any time and I will be happy to assist in any way that I am able.
Thank you for your time and best wishes for a fun, exciting, and rewarding school year!
Very sincerely,
Kaye Waltner