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Mike Plunkett (Oklahoma City, OK) taught both instrumental and vocal music at Carl Albert High School in Midwest City, Oklahoma, for 21 years. He received his Bachelor of Music Education from Central State University in 1980 and his Master of Music Education with an emphasis in jazz studies from the University of Central Oklahoma in 1988. Mike has taught at the junior high, high school, and college levels. He has served as an adjudicator and clinician in more than twenty states and Canada and has conducted multiple All-State Jazz Choirs.
Plunkett served as Vice-President and President of the Oklahoma chapter of International Association of Jazz Educators (IAJE), was a member of the National IAJE Strategic Planning Committee, and the National IAJE Resource Team in the area of Published Music. He was also a faculty member for the IAJE 1999 Teacher Training Institute at Walt Disney World and the 2000 Teacher Training Institute in Kansas City. In 2014, he was given the prestigious IAJE President’s Award for service and achievement in Oklahoma music education.
Plunkett also served as Repertoire & Standards Chair for jazz ensembles for the Oklahoma Choral Directors Association. He taught the vocal jazz choir as an adjunct professor at both the University of Central Oklahoma and Southern Nazarene University. In 1995, under Plunkett’s direction, the Carl Albert High School Vocal Jazz ensemble was selected as an honor group for the Oklahoma Music Educators Association Conference, and in 1988, the Carl Albert Jazz Band won the OSSAA State Music Contest. He was also a key figure in the implementation and inauguration of the Vocal Jazz All-State Choir in Oklahoma, now in its 25th year.
In July of 2001, Mike was hired as the administrator of all fine arts activities for the OSSAA. He also served as the Chairman of the Music Committee for the National Federation of High Schools from 2007 to 2011. After 21 years of service to the OSSAA, he retired in 2022.