Courtney Victoria's "Secrets"!: December 2010

Ken Robinson: Changing education paradigms Video on TED.com

As a future music teacher and as an advocate for the arts in school, this video really shed some light on things and put things in a different perspective for me. I think it is absolutely key for educators to see that the educational system that we have established and been abiding by for decades now is completely out of touch with the job market, technology, and social culture that we live in today. There needs to be reform, and this video definitely gives you more concrete reasons why and also some options on how to change education to meet the needs of the students.

Great visual presentation as well... the 11 minutes just flew by for me! It is fabulous, so I hope you all take a little time out of your day to watch it.

Hello everyone!

Welcome to my blog!

If you are reading this, hopefully you know a little bit about me - but if not, I will introduce myself!

My name is Courtney Victoria Monk. I am currently a 20 year old music education major at Anderson University in Indiana. You may be familiar with Sandi Patty and the Gaithers, huge names in Christian music, who hail from my university. I am a junior in the midst of my busiest year of college yet. I actively practice voice and piano, and I also am enrolled in a variety of technique classes, where I try to achieve at least a 6th or 7th grade level on the basic brass, woodwind, percussion, and stringed instruments.

I am also an active part of the musical, opera, and dance productions that are available on my campus. While it may be stressful and does not leave me with much free-time, I utilize these productions as my creative outlet, and it is also an additional method of crafting my performance skills!

I was born and raised in Defiance, Ohio, a small town in Northwestern Ohio. I love it there, and I am very grateful for the wonderful experiences that this town has offered me through the years. I am also honored enough to be a 3 time titleholder within the Miss America System in the state of Ohio! I am the current Miss Northwestern Ohio, which is the title that represents my hometown of Defiance.

Everyday, I consider it a huge blessing from the Lord to have been given all of the wonderful opportunities as both a student and a titleholder!

As a titleholder in the Miss America system, you have to have a platform that you actively work with and are an advocate for. My platform is "A.M.U.S.E. - Arts and Music Underscore Successfu

l Educations". This is an issue that is near and dear to my heart, seeing as how it is my future career of choice and also the most formative activity of my childhood, and I intend on being a champion of the arts for the rest of my life, whether that is through the Miss America system or not.

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My very first appearance as Miss Northwestern was at the Defiance Northtowne Mall on December 4th, 2010. I had the opportunity to help Rick Small and Mix 98.1 with "Christmas for Kids". It is a wonderful effort that happens yearly where people from all over the community donate funds and toys for less fortunate children. Below are some pictures from that event. Also, Becky Minger's Miss America send-off party was yesterday, December 18th, and I had the honor of being a guest. Below are a few pictures from that event as well.

Enjoy!