Mar. 1, 2018
CWU Professors Inducted into Washington Music Educators Hall of Fame
Citing their "exceptional support, inspiration and outstanding contributions" professors Jeffrey Snedeker and Leslie Schneider were inducted into the Washington Music Educators Hall of Fame. The Central Washington University professors received their awards at the at the opening of the state conference on February 15.
Horn professor Jeffrey Snedeker has taught in the Music Department since 1991. During his time at CWU, he has taught horn, music history, and brass literature and pedagogy, among many other courses. He has also performed various faculty groups and directed the CWU Brass Choir and CWU Horn Ensemble. The CWUHE maintains an active outreach program for public schools, and has been an invited performing ensemble at numerous horn and music educator conferences, including international workshops of the International Horn Society.
Snedeker is a CWU Distinguished University Faculty for Service, and has served as associate chair of the Music Department, chair of CWU's Faculty Senate, and interim associate dean for the College of Arts and Humanities, as well as numerous department, college, and university committees.
He has received recognition for his teaching, scholarship, and service, including 2006 CWU Faculty Member of the Year, 2008 CWU Phi Kappa Phi Scholar of the Year, 2012 Washington Music Educators Association Higher Education Music Educator of the Year, 2014 Washington State Representative Timm Ormsby Faculty Citizenship Award, and the 2014 National Phi Kappa Phi Artist Award.
"This is a humbling and truly wonderful honor. WMEA is all about music education in the schools, so when university faculty are recognized, it not only a testament to the impact we at CWU have on music education, but also a singular personal career honor," Snedeker said. "I am proud to join the many CWU alumni and faculty already recognized in the Hall of Fame."
Music education adjunct professor Leslie Schneider also teaches music full-time at Valley View Elementary. She has worked in the Ellensburg School District for 22 years, and at CWU for five years.
Schneider received her BA and MA in Music Education from CWU. She was elected as a member of Pi Kappa Lambda in 1995. In 2002, her third-graders won a $10,000 contest from Oscar Mayer that helped stock her music room instruments, technology, and materials. She was named Ellensburg's Teacher of the Year in 2006. In 2012, she was selected as WMEA's Elementary Music Educator of the Year. Schneider served as Curriculum Officer East on the Washington State Music Educators Board from 2012-2016. For the past several years, she has worked with Quaver Music to give a free year of the Quaver Curriculum to CWU students in her general music methods classes.
At least one of her Valley View music students have been accepted into the Washington State Youth Honor Choir every year since its inception. And for the past several years, she has worked with Music Express Magazine and the Hal Leonard Company as a Star Teacher.
Her performance groups have been featured in MENC's World's Largest Concert twice, and once at the WMEA Yakima Conference. She worked with ESD 105's Artfusion project as a trainer for the state music CPBA's and has donated her music composition unit lessons to ESD 105 for their training sessions.
"I am extremely honored and excited to be a part of the Hall Of Fame. Many of the educators included have been mentors, friends and heroes of mine for a long time," Schneider said. "It has also been such a great blessing to have been educated, enriched, and nurtured by the strong and excellent music program at CWU. I have never questioned my ability to reach students through music because of the strong foundation and great educational experience I received at Central."
WMEA Hall of Fame
The Washington Music Educators Hall of Fame was established by the WMEA Board of Directors to give recognition for exceptional support, inspiration and outstanding contribution to the growth and development of music education, both public and private, in the state of Washington.
In June 2011 the WMEA Hall of Fame Wall of Recognition was dedicated in the Jerilyn S. Mcintyre Music Building at Central Washington University. The wall was funded by Ted Brown Music of Tacoma and supported with materials from Manhasset Specialty Company of Yakima.
Media Contact: Valerie Chapman-Stockwell, Public Affairs, 509-963-1518, valeriec@cwu.edu