Lakewood High’s Beth Hankins is Finalist for GRAMMY Music Educator of the Year

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While Beyonce and Adele are getting fitted for their GRAMMY gowns and nervously wondering if 2017 is their year, another possible GRAMMY winner is busy rehearsing her students for their upcoming holiday concerts in Lakewood, Ohio.

Lakewood High School orchestra director Beth Hankins has just been named one of 10 finalists for the GRAMMY Music Educator of the Year award. Along with the recognition, the award offers $10,000 personal honorarium to the winner, plus $10,000 to the school. The award is sponsored by the Recording Academy and the GRAMMY Foundation. As a finalist, Hankins is awarded a $1000 personal honorarium, which is matched with $1000 going to the Lakewood Public Schools. They have each already been awarded $500 as a semi-finalist.

 

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The award is open to current, full-time, educators in the U.S., who teach music in public or private schools — kindergarten through college. Teachers in afterschool, private studios or other educational settings are not eligible. The honoree will be flown to Los Angeles, the host city of the 2017 GRAMMY Awards to be recognized during GRAMMY Week 2017. The recipient will also attend the 59th Annual GRAMMY Awards ceremony and a range of GRAMMY Foundation events.

Hankins took the call from the GRAMMY Foundation between classes. “It’s like… you can’t believe it’s happening. I saw the number on caller ID and knew who it was. I didn’t want to get too excited. They said I couldn’t tell anyone, not even my students. I told (Lakewood Schools Superintendent Jeffrey) Patterson the day before, so they wouldn’t be blindsided,” Beth Hankins told CoolCleveland.

 

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“It’s a huge validation for what we’re doing with the Lakewood Project,” says Hankins, citing the lasting influence that music makes in the lives of adults who study music as students. Hankins, a violist who recently was awarded the Oberlin Conservatory Distinguished Alumni Award in Music Education, is taking her PhD at Case Western Reserve University. Her dissertation focuses on her creation of the Lakewood Project, an ensemble made up of a complete classical string orchestra paired with a full rock band with guitars and drums.

Hankins’ studies have found that Lakewood Project alumni gain considerable confidence in all areas of their lives, and many continue to earn income from music long after graduation, with over 71% continuing with music throughout their lives. Because they are called on to arrange and compose and improvise during high school, these skills translate to success later in life. “Music is something that stays with you your entire life.”

The wildly popular Lakewood Project, with their “Orch Dork” t-shirts and student-arranged music concerts draws tens of thousands to their annual 4th of July concert at Lakewood Park. Their highly anticipated events at the Lakewood Civic Auditorium regularly draw over 1000 people, complete with a mosh pit of middle schoolers dying to try out for a prestigious slot playing one of the electrified violins, violas or cellos once they reach high school age. The Lakewood Project has made it cool to carry around a violin case in high school.

The GRAMMY Music Educator Award is supported by the NAMM Foundation, the National Association for Music Education, and the National Education Association. As part of the application process, a number of videos were developed to

 

According to the GRAMMY Foundation, music education benefits students in these ways:

  1. Students in high-quality school music programs score higher on standardized tests compared to students in schools with deficient music education programs, regardless of the socioeconomic level of the school or school district.
  2. Schools that have music programs have significantly higher attendance rates than do those without programs (93.3 percent as compared to 84.9 percent).
  3. Schools that have music programs have significantly higher graduation rates than do those without music programs (90.2 percent as compared to 72.9 percent). In addition, those that rate their programs as “excellent or very good” have an even higher graduation rate (90.9 percent).
  4. The combined results of 30 studies indicate that music instruction is linked to significantly improved reading skills.

Those wishing to support Lakewood’s George P. Read Music Department and program can donate at the Lakewood Music Boosters site by participating in their Doorstep Direct Fruit Fundraiser or by purchasing a hangar or two for their new garment storage and trolley system here.

Learn more about Beth Hankins and the Lakewood Project:

http://www.LakewoodProjet.com

Lakewood, OH 44107

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