And the Grammy Goes to…
And the Award goes to….
It is always with a divided heart that I agree to serve on award panels. It dates back to my year as Utah Teacher of the Year. It was so amazing to be recognized for the things you did for your students; things you loved doing; things that you weren’t even sure anyone knew about. It was such an honor for someone to nominate you and remind you that your work impacted the future of someone’s child and that that is an important thing.
But I also know that it was awkward to know that your colleagues, who were a team and close and friends and hardworking and every bit as deserving as you, were not going to be recognized. It felt wrong to single out one person when so many deserved recognition.
But I agreed to serve on the award’s committee for the first-ever Grammy Award for a Music Educator. And I imagine Kent Knappenberger is going through what I went through when asked how it felt to win. He’s thinking, “Why me? What about my colleagues? I’m not worthy. This is so cool!”
It’s the ultimate multiple-choice answer: All of the above. And all at once. Kent teaches everything musical at Central School in rural Westfield, New York, population 4,896. Not exactly the Big Apple of New York City. But there’s nothing small about Kent Knappenberger’s ambitions. His music program brings big joy, big smiles, big differences in the lives of his boys and girls. He sings and strums and plucks and whistles and rings bells.
He explodes with energy and possibilities and love. It is a law of physics as
He explodes with energy and possibilities and love. It is a law of physics as