PMEA Director of Public and Government Affairs
Advocacy Council Chair
Emily Brumbaugh, Loyalsock Township School District
“Tell me, and I forget. Show me, and I remember. Involve me, and I understand.”
Music In Our Schools Month (MIOSM) Chair
Chuck Neidhardt – Retired
District Advocacy Representatives
District 1
Kayla Holsopple, South Allegheny School District
District 2
Jillian Melchitzky, Northwestern SD
“Without music to decorate it, time is just a bunch of boring production deadlines or dates by which bills must be paid.” – Frank Zappa
District 3
Tina Bennett, Retired
“If not you , then who?”
District 4
Brett Leavelle, Juniata College
District 5
Lee Caldwell, Ellwood City Area School District
“The world is in great need of more music education. When students play music, it allows their artistic mind to express itself, which is very important in helping to balance a child intellectually, spiritually, and emotionally.” – Paul Reed Smith, President of PRS Guitars
District 6
Catherine Kasun, Conemaugh Township School District
“Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent.” -Victor Hugo
District 7
Russell McCutcheon, Gettysburg College
District 8
Emily Brumbaugh, Loyalsock Township School District
District 9
Jennifer Gerhard, Hazleton Area School District
“We are the same. There is no difference anywhere in the world. People are people. They laugh, cry, feel, and love, and music sees to be the common denomination that brings us all together. Music cuts through all boundaries and goes right to the soul.” Willie Nelson
District 10
Rob Arnold, Catasuqua Area School District
“Music is a more potent instrument than any other for education because rhythm and harmony find their way into the inward places of the soul.” -Plato
District 11
Debbie Lynn Wolf, Cairn University
“Music enhances the education of our children by helping them to make connections and broadening the depth with which they think and feel. If we are to hope for a society of culturally literate people, music must be a vital part of our children’s education.” – Yo-Yo Ma
District 12
George Weaver, Chichester School District
“If we are to hope for a society of culturally literate people, music must be a part of our children’s education.” -Yo-Yo Ma
Industry Representatives
Cindy McAllister – C.F. Martin & Co., Inc.
Joel Menchey – Menchey Music Service
Peter Sides – Robert M. Sides Family Music Centers
“Anyone can be an advocate for music education.”
Beth Schiemer – Brighton Music Center
“I would teach children music, physics, and philosophy; but most importantly music, for the patterns in music and all the arts are the keys to learning.” – Plato
