UPDATE: A previous version said that Thompson was the only Georgia teacher to receive the honor.
A music teacher at a Johns Creek middle school is a semifinalist for the fourth annual Grammy Foundation's 2017 Music Educator Award.
Nicole Thompson of Taylor Road Middle School was one of 25 contenders across 16 states to receive the honor. Jason Smith, a band instructor at Newton High School, is also a semifinalist.
Thompson has been an orchestra teacher at Taylor Road since 2000, her notable resume shows.
Thompson was surprised and honored to learn that she was nominated for the award — which was established to recognize educators who have significantly contributed to the field of music education and who work towards maintaining music education in schools — by one of her students and that student's mom, Daniela and Solange Leonardo.
"It brings me such joy every day to see my students work together as a family to learn and then show love by sharing their music with others," Thompson said in an email. "Earlier this week, 60 of my students went to a Senior Center in Buckhead to perform and interact with the residents there."
In a video submitted to the Grammy Foundation, students and administrators talk about the impact Thompson has had on their lives.
Bernadette Scruggs, former president of the Georgia Music Educators Association, worked with Thompson on that association's board. She recounts how Thompson's "intrinsic feeling of responsibility" led her to adopt a former student whose mom and brother were "tragically killed the summer after he left her program."
"Almost two years later this young man is a part of her family, and lives with her, and her commitment to him and his education and quality of life is nothing less than remarkable," Scruggs said.
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The winner of the Music Educator Award will be flown to the 59th annual Grammy Awards, recognized during that week and given a $10,000 honorarium with a matching grant for his or her school.
Ten finalists will be announced in December, nine of whom will receive a $1,000 honorarium and a matching school grant. And for the first time in the award's history, semifinalists will receive a prize: $500 honorarium and a matching school grant, according to a release.
The award is presented by The Recording Academy and the Grammy Foundation.
The nomination period for the 2018 Music Educator Award is open now at www.grammymusicteacher.com.
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