Justin Johnson named Illinois’ 2021 Teacher of the Year

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Music educator Justin Johnson from Skokie, Illinois, has been named his state’s 2021 Teacher of the Year. Photo credit: Niles Township High School.

It is always exciting when talented educators are recognized for their work in the classroom. One of these is Justin Johnson, a music teacher from Skokie, Illinois, who has been named his state’s 2021 Teacher of the Year.

Currently, Justin serves as the Director of Bands at Niles West High School in Skokie. There he has a reputation for being a kind, caring role model who always has the students’ best interests in mind, says Dr. Karen Ritter, Principal of Niles West. “Mr. Johnson is everything the Teacher of the Year Award represents,” she asserted. “He is an intense instructor who is so in tune with his students and their needs and brings them all together in an ensemble setting,” she continued. “When I visited Mr. Johnson’s classroom last year, I felt that I could spend the whole day there. I would have loved to have had a teacher like Justin Johnson,” she concluded.

In addition to his classroom responsibilities, Justin has served on several nationally recognized ensembles, including the Bluecoats Drum and Bugle Corps, a position he held for over a decade and the US Army All-American Marching Band. He has adjudicated and coordinated clinics for concert ensembles, marching bands, indoor drumlines, winter guards, and jazz ensembles throughout the country. He is also an active member of the Illinois Music Education Association and the National Association for Music Education.

For his work in the classroom, Justin has earned many accolades. In addition to the 2021 Illinois Teacher of the Year, he was named a finalist for the Golden Apple Award in 2016 and a Teacher of Distinction the same year. In 2020,  he garnered Niles West High School’s Zemsky Teacher of the Year Award.

Justin earned his Bachelor’s degree in Music Education from the University of Memphis in Memphis, Tennessee. He earned his Master’s degree in Music Education from Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, Illinois.