Recording Academy and GRAMMY Museum Honor Local Teachers As 2020 Music Educator Award Finalists

A total of 10 music teachers from 10 cities across nine states have been announced as finalists for the Music Educator Award™ presented by the Recording Academy® and GRAMMY Museum®. In total, more than 3,300 initial nominations were submitted from all 50 states. Nominations for the 2021 Music Educator Award are now open at www.grammymusicteacher.com. A complete list of finalists is below:

Elizabeth Bennett

Buffalo Grove High School

Buffalo Grove

Ill.

Stephen Cox

Eastland High School

Eastland

Texas

Victor de los Santos

Santa Ana High School

Santa Ana

Calif.

Geoffrey Gould

Swift River Elementary School

Belchertown

Mass.

Elizabeth Hering

Churchill High School

Livonia

Mich.

Jason Majerczak

Drexel Hill Middle School

Drexel Hill

Pa.

Chris Maunu

Arvada West High School

Arvada

Colo.

Lynne Ruda

Lancaster High School

Lancaster

N.Y.

Mickey Smith Jr.

Maplewood Middle School

Sulphur

La.

Kokoe Tanaka-Suwan

Bronx Global Learning Institute for Girls

Bronx

N.Y.

The annual Music Educator Award recognizes teachers who have made a significant and lasting contribution to the field of music education and who demonstrate a commitment to the broader cause of maintaining music education in the schools. The recipient will be recognized during GRAMMY® Week 2020.

The award is open to current U.S. music teachers, and anyone can nominate a teacher -students, parents, friends, colleagues, community members, school deans, and administrators.

Teachers are also able to nominate themselves, and nominated teachers are notified and invited to fill out an application.

Each year, one recipient is selected from the 10 finalists and recognized for their remarkable impact on students' lives. The seventh annual honoree will be flown to Los Angeles to attend the 62nd Annual GRAMMY Awards® and a range of GRAMMY Week events.

The nine additional finalists will receive a $1,000 honorarium, and the schools of all 10 finalists will receive matching grants. The remaining 15 semifinalists will receive a $500 honorarium with matching school grants.

The matching grants provided to the schools are made possible by the generosity and support of the GRAMMY Museum's Education Champion Ford Motor Company Fund. In addition, the American Choral Directors Association, National Association for Music Education, NAMM Foundation, and National Education Association support this program through outreach to their constituencies.

The recipient will be announced during GRAMMY Week. For more information, please visit www.grammymusicteacher.com.

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