©2025 Ohio Music Education Association
Committee Updates
Tri-M Honor Society
Tri-M Honor Society
Amy Thompson, Tri-M State Chair, OMEA
I resisted for years, just like you. I put my foot down and said no. Like you, I didn’t need one more thing on my already overflowing plate. I didn’t need more work. Why on earth would I want to start a Tri-M chapter at my school?! Eventually, in 2018 I had a music student that needed a capstone project (like other initiatives that dwindle or change, we don’t do those anymore). We were also in the midst of planning our first music department trip to Disney with band, choir and orchestra. We needed a unifier, some glue to bring our department together in the spirit of collaboration. We were three separate departments – the band, the choir and the orchestra. We were not functioning as one music department, and everyone acted in isolation, including the students. The band kids didn’t like the orchestra kids using “their” room and the students would leave passive-aggressive notes on the board for each other about how the room should be kept. We won’t even get involved with the emptying of the spit valves… The choir has our own room, so we just got to be our own diva selves without even knowing the other ensembles existed. The directors, too, were guilty. Each had their own vision for their ensemble(s) with little regard for the other.
The Disney trip was planned in part to unify our department (for reasons listed above and plenty of others), but it just wasn’t enough. We needed some kindling to get things going. Rewind to my student needing a capstone project. Right around the time she came to me I had opened yet another piece of mail about starting a Tri-M chapter. Yes, I always opened the envelopes. I even hesitated and considered for a brief thought before rationalizing my way out of it and promptly tossing the invitation in the garbage. Come on, you can relate, I know. Or, you didn’t even open it before it hit “file 13”. If you’re of a different generation, “file 13” is the garbage can. Truth be told, one of my colleagues had tried to convince me for several years. She just threw up her hands when I finally said yes to the capstone student.
Our chapter is in its 7th year, and in its 7th variation of how we operate. We reinvent ourselves every year as our needs change, our students change, their needs change, and their skill sets are widely varied from year to year. The threads of unity, service and developing leadership skills are our constants. Our kids deserve this opportunity to take responsibility and learn how to lead.
One of my former students shared with me how her leadership experience in Tri‑M paid off when she was in sorority recruitment. When asked about any leadership experience, she gushed about how she had started and run a private lessons program that allowed some of our high school Tri-M members to teach our struggling middle school instrumentalists. (If you would like more on how we run this program, please send me an email!) She said, “Mom, I didn’t realize how much Tri-M would impact the non-musical part of my college experience, too.” I knew our kids were learning and growing here, but I, too, didn’t realize just how impactful their experiences would be outside of our chapter and after high school.
In our department, the kids always sign up to serve as ushers for the other music events in the buildings. Many of them also go help at middle school music events, too. They also host a music department picnic for all music kids at the beginning of the school year. At this year’s picnic, they ran a full-on bracketed cornhole tournament. Some years we help at the elementaries, some years we don’t. Of course I have an idea of all the things the students “should” be doing, but I have learned to let much of that go. The important thing is that we are a chapter and the kids are leading.
We are by no means a perfect chapter, but that’s the point. You don’t have to be a perfect chapter either. I encourage you to start where you are – to start small. Grab some of your best kids from each ensemble and work together. Let the kids lead the way and have a voice in deciding what’s important in their music department.
Your wheels are turning, I know. Now, hit the ground running, or email me (thompson_a@ohlsd.org). Ask your questions and/or we can schedule a Zoom/Google Meet. I did this with a few new advisors earlier this year and it was so awesome to see their excitement about getting their chapters going. I challenge you to reach out to me or a colleague at a neighboring school! We want to help you get started (or reinvented). Whether it’s your own child or someone else’s, your kids deserve this chance to shine!
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