Music educator Nicolas Jacques of Carson City, Nevada, finally received his 2019 Milliken Award last month. The bestowal of the award was delayed because of Covid-19. Photo credit: Nicolas Jacques.

For Nicolas Jacques, an outstanding music educator in Carson City, Nevada, long-overdue recognition has finally been awarded. Last month, he finally received the Milliken Award he had earned in 2019. The bestowal of the award has been delayed all this time because of Covid-19.

Nicolas teaches concert, marching, and jazz band. At the time he earned his award, he was employed at Carson Middle School. Currently he teaches at Carson High School. In all, his career as an educator in Carson City has spanned ten years.

The school’s jazz band, which was created by Nicolas in 2013, played annually at “Jazz in the Commons” and has performed at the Reno Jazz Festival and the Jazz in the Schools Clinic at University of Nevada in Reno. The concert bands routinely earn superior scores at the Washoe County and Northern Zone Band Festivals, and the groups have even performed at Disneyland. Students from Nicolas’s classes make up 60% of the Carson City Honor Band, and six of them were selected to play in the All-State Festival last year. In addition, Nicolas’s students excel in their academics, earning the highest scores at the school on statewide assessments.

An unhappy childhood led Nicolas to his career as an educator. “As an individual who was raised in an abusive and non-nurturing household, school was my safe place,” Nicolas reveals. “At school I had my friends, my teachers, my hobbies and a positive environment that kept me out of the house,” he continued. “My best class was band because it was something I enjoyed doing, I did it well, and it gave me a reason be away from home. It was a place where I could be myself, and I flourished,” he concluded.

In addition to his Milliken Award, Nicolas was a finalist for the Nevada Teacher of the Year honor in 2019. That same year he was recognized as the District Teacher of the Year. In addition, he was named a National Board Certified educator in 2018. He has also served as a Board Member of the Nevada Music Educators Association. Nicolas earned both his Bachelor’s degree and his Master’s degree at the University of Nevada, Reno.

To read more about Nicolas Jacques, see this article published by the Nevada Appeal.