This past August, VCSD music teachers Vanessa Snyder (CAE & VHE) and Elaine Laramee (GLE & VMS) attended a special national music conference, the Feierabend Association for Music Education. FAME is a group of music professionals dedicated to promoting and supporting the work of Dr. John M. Feierabend through collaboration, advocacy, training, resource sharing, and more. The goal of the organization is to build tuneful, beautiful, and artful learners throughout the world, ensuring a lifetime of joyful music-making. Vestal's Music Department has been utilizing the work of Dr. Feierabend for the better part of this past decade to enrich general music literacy and performance for students in grade levels from kindergarten to sixth grade.

The FAME conference is a bi-annual workshop-style gathering of music educators from across the country, focusing on best teaching practices and innovative approaches that teachers can use in their classrooms to engage learners and communities in creating music together.  The conference, like the work in the classroom, provided opportunities for singing, dancing, playing, and sharing in a collaborative setting.