GRAMMY® Foundation Announces 2004 Signature Schools
Music Educators From Twenty-Four Designated Schools are Members of MENC: The National Association for Music Education
RESTON, VA (PRWEB) April 25, 2004
In recognition of their outstanding commitment to music education during the 2003-2004 school year, forty public high schools nationwide have been designated GRAMMY Signature Schools for 2004 by the GRAMMY Foundation. In cooperation with MENC: The National Association for Music Education, the GRAMMY Signature Schools program honors high school music programs that promote and preserve music education as a key part of their curriculum. The program is sponsored by 7UP.
Twenty-four teachers from the top forty schools designated as GRAMMY Signature Schools are MENC members. The top seven Signature Schools have been designated Gold recipients, with the best being named the National GRAMMY Signature School.
According to MENC member James Dunaway, director of choir at Davidson Fine Arts School, Augusta, Georgia, and the2004 National GRAMMY Signature School, “What the GRAMMY Foundation and 7 UP are doing for music education with the Signature Schools Program is absolutely incredible. We are very pleased and proud to be honored by this program, and we deeply appreciate all the effort and dedication that the GRAMMY Foundation and 7 UP have put into it. We plan on using the grant for collaborating with professional musicians and also on some desperately needed equipment, such as large instruments and choral risers.”
MENC believes that the GRAMMY Signature Schools Program is a worthwhile partnership and recognizes the importance of identifying the most exemplary music programs in our nation’s schools. “The GRAMMY Signature Schools program is a valuable way for us all to recognize school programs that make a genuine, positive contribution to students’ lives,” said John J. Mahlmann, executive director of MENC. “The program has the potential to boost the public perception of music education– just as every school program has the potential to boost the educational attainments of children.”
“The GRAMMY Signature Schools program is an exceptional way to recognize schools nationwide that support and maintain arts and music programs in the face of a challenging economy,” said GRAMMY Foundation and Recording Academy® President Neil Portnow. “We honor these schools for their recognition of the positive effects that the arts and music have on young people, and we wish them continued success.”
MENC congratulates all GRAMMY Signature Schools, and in particular, the following twenty-four schools whose teachers are MENC members:
2004 National GRAMMY Signature School ($25,000)
Davidson Fine Arts School – Augusta, GA–James Dunaway
2004 GRAMMY Signature Schools Gold ($5,000 each)
City High School–Iowa City, IA–Steve Stickney
Neuqua Valley High School–Naperville, IL–Charles Staley
Northwood High School–Irvine, CA–Brad VanPatten
Pioneer High School–Ann Arbor, MI–Marijean Quigley-Young
2004 GRAMMY Signature Schools ($1,000)
Lake City High School–Coeur d’Alene, ID–Tim Sandford
Wayzata High School–Plymouth, MN–Chip Williams
Sumter High School–Sumter, SC–Heath Jones
Valparaiso High School–Valparaiso, IN–Daniel Pritchett
Waubonsie Valley High School–Aurora, IL–Matt Temple
Northwestern High School–Rock Hill, SC–Elizabeth Mixon
Inglemoor High School–Kenmore, WA–Jim Rice
Mt. Carmel High School–San Diego, CA–Warren Torns
Shaker Heights High School–Shaker Heights, OH–Robert Schneider
Kentwood High School–Covington, WA–Kurt McKee
Green Valley High School-Henderson, NV–Kim Drusedum
Abraham Lincoln High School–San Jose, CA–Lou DeLaRosa
Douglas Anderson SOTA–Jacksonville, FL–Jeffrey Clayton
Syosset High School–Syosset, NY–Steven Schopp
Evanston Township High School–Evanston, IL–Richard Bowers
Edmonds Woodway High School–Edmonds, WA–Jake Bergevin
Mona Shores High School–Norton Shores, MI–Jason Boyden
Johnson City High School–Johnson City, NY–Kenneth Turner
Ridgewood High School–Ridgewood, NJ–Edward Schmiedecke
To view the complete list of Signature Schools, visit www. grammy. com/foundation/signature_schools. html (http://www. grammy. com/foundation/signature_schools. html).
For more information, call 1-800-336-3768, or visit www. menc. org.
MENC: The National Association for Music Education, the worldÂ’s largest arts education organization, is the only association that addresses all aspects of music education. More than 100,000 members represent all levels of teaching from preschool to graduate school. Since 1907, MENC has worked to ensure that every student has access to a well-balanced, comprehensive, and high-quality program of music instruction taught by qualified teachers. MENCÂ’s activities and resources have been largely responsible for the establishment of music education as a profession, for the promotion and guidance of music study as an integral part of the school curriculum, and for the development of the National Standards for Arts Education.
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