By Patrick Baron
NORMAL – A local music educator has been selected as a quarter-finalist for the Music Educator Award presented by the Recording Academy and the Grammy Museum.
Normal West High School music educator Kimberly Martin-Boyd is one of 197 music teachers across the country to be a quarter-finalist for the 2018 Music Educator Award, which recognizes educators who have made a significant and lasting contribution to the field of music education. Martin-Boyd explained even if her students don’t play music forever, she hopes to impart the knowledge and love of the art to them.
“I want to promote life-long learning of music,” Martin-Boyd said. “I know not all of my students will go out and be performers and keep performing their whole life, but that they’ll have an appreciation for the art.”
Martin-Boyd giggled at the thought of being Grammy-nominated. She said teaching music isn’t about instruments or recognitions, but rather teaching kids to appreciate other cultures.
“It’s about teaching them citizenship and how to live in the world when we have such a diverse culture and world, and it’s also a great way to teach multiculturalism and acceptance of different religions and different countries and the things they cherish. It’s a nice way to teach that,” Martin-Boyd explained.
Semifinalists for the award will be announced in September.
Patrick Baron can be reached at patrick.baron@cumulus.com.
