Little Big Town, CMA Foundation To Honor Music Teachers

Little Big Town will help the CMA Foundation honor 31 teachers as 2017 CMA Music Teachers of Excellence, furthering its mission to support music education programs in Nashville and beyond.

Honorees will attend a celebratory dinner Wednesday, April 26 at Nissan Stadium in Nashville. Ticket proceeds will directly benefit the CMA Foundation. Little Big Town’s Karen Fairchild serves on the CMA Foundation Board of Directors.

Now in its second year, CMA Music Teachers of Excellence recognizes music educators who are making an impact through music in their classrooms and school communities. 25 educators were selected from Metro Nashville Public Schools, with six additional recipients from across the U.S. who were selected through a partnership with Give a Note Foundation’s Music In Our Schools Tour with Radio Disney. These dedicated educators will each receive a stipend from the CMA Foundation in recognition of their work for their students and music programs.

The honors program was created in partnership with Metro Schools’ Music Makes Us initiative. Foundation funds are generated through CMA Music Festival ticket proceeds and presented on behalf of the artists who participate in the event for free.

“The CMA Foundation is committed to proactively addressing the challenges music education programs face, and there is no more meaningful or efficient way to do that than to honor these top music educators who are on the front lines, consistently making a difference in their students’ lives,” said Joe Galante, CMA Foundation Chairman.

The 2017 CMA Music Teachers of Excellence honorees are:

Jennifer Barnes (Lockeland Design Center)
Emily Biederstadt (Sylvan Park Paideia Design Center)
Rita Black (Eakin Elementary)
Christopher Blackmon (Thomas Edison Elementary)
M. Jennifer Burton (Cane Ridge Elementary School)
Bryan Gallagher (Ramona High School, Riverside, Calif.)
Matt Gerry (Salina South Middle School, Salina, Kan.)
Mark Hale (Mt. View Elementary)
Kathy Hart (Harpeth Valley Elementary School)
Daniel Hayes (Granbery Elementary)
John Hazlett (McGavock High School)
Kathy Hull (Hull-Jackson Montessori Magnet School)
Ira Jacobs (Head Middle Magnet Prep)
Kevin Jankowski (Oliver Middle School)
Julie Jolly (West End Middle School)
Lisa Kemp (Haywood Elementary)
Angela Mangum (Tar River Elementary, Franklinton, N.C.)
Melissa McClaran (Cane Ridge Elementary)
Anna Maria Miller (Hume-Fogg Academic Magnet High School/Martin Luther King Academic Magnet School)
Franklin Norris (Meigs Academic Magnet)
Colin O’Dwyer (James Otis Elementary, East Boston, Mass.)
Rebecca Pearson (Norman Binkley Elementary School)
Ramon Rivera (Wenatchee High School, Wenatchee, Wash.)
Roberta Rodgers (Glendale Elementary)
Alaina Schwartz (Crieve Hall Elementary)
Don Stinson (Joliet Central High School, Joliet, Ill.)
Matthew Taylor (Meigs Academic Magnet)
Elizabeth Voltz, Ed. D. (Creswell Middle Prep School of the Arts)
Paul Waters (Bellevue Middle School)
Susan Waters (Oliver Middle School)
John Womack (McGavock High School)