A message from Ryan Worswick, past Seattle Chapter President (2024 Winners of Chapter of the Year)
“Why bother with Chapter of the Year? Good question!
The title alone suggests a grand competition, tensions high as chapter battles chapter, striving for a seat on the throne atop the shattered dreams of those that dared to interfere. Fun enough to imagine, but rather opposed to the mutual aid elements of our organization.
What I have to add to your consideration is this observation: whether or not you win, you win.
If you actually get picked for your efforts, there is a monetary dispensation, and with that you can turn around and fund cool things in your chapter that might seem out of reach otherwise. For Seattle, we’ve spent our funds on grants for our members and starting new programs like our Jazz Rags and Blues festival and our local masterclass series.
But even if you don’t, what you end up with is an even more important artifact of introspection; a long form answer to the questions ‘what the heck do we do, and why do we do it?’
The nature of our work is engaging, nibbling at the edges of our free time whenever the opportunity arrives. This isn’t a bad thing really, but it quickly demotes self assessment in favor of actually doing the things. But that reflection is where you’ll find out that your chapter probably does more than you realize, not to mention it shines a spotlight on where your activity could be massaged to serve your goals more equitably.
How do we serve our members? How do we serve the organization? How do we serve our community? Our students? How can we (or where should we) do yet more? I won’t tell you it’s a snap to answer all of the above, merely that it’s well worth the trouble.”
You are encouraged to share you Chapter’s story by submitting an application for the 2025 Chapter of the Year Award. DEADLINE IS MAY 1, 2025. WSMTA awards the selected Chapter $500. To locate Chapter of the Year information, criteria and application, please visit: wsmta.org > Information for Teachers > Chapter of the Year.
