Tag Archives: Music Teachers

AK performing arts teacher Kelly Rentz named her state’s 2025 Teacher of the Year

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High school performing arts teacher Kelly Rentz has been named Alaska’s 2025 State Teacher of the Year. Photo credit: Stetson University

There are many stellar teachers in our nation’s public schools, and every year, one from each state earns Teacher of the Year honors. One of these is Kelly Rentz, a performing arts teacher in Alaska. She has been named her state’s 2025 Teacher of the Year.

Kelly teaches choir, drama, and Advanced Placement Music Theory at Colony High School (CHS) in Palmer, Alaska. She also serves as the Director of her school’s Drama Department; in fact, she has been the Director of Choirs and Drama at the campus since 2018. Furthermore, she founded a chapter of Tri-M, the National Honor Music Society and is the advisor for the National Thespian Society on her campus. She also serves as President of the Board of Directors for Valley Performing Arts in Wasilla, Alaska,.

As if all that were not enough, Kelly has coached color guard for the CHS Marching Band, The Northern Sound. The group has performed in the prestigious Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, the 75th Anniversary D-Day Memorial Parade in France, and the 2015 Bands of America Grand Nationals, where the group was awarded the Albert J. Castronova Esprit de Corps Award for “pride, spirit, enthusiasm, friendliness, camaraderie and unity of purpose.”

The honored educator says she encourages her students to involve themselves with the arts in their community. Her students take lead roles in large–scale community productions that she has directed, including Phantom of the Opera, Beauty and the Beast, and Les Misérables. She says her students often volunteer to perform for charitable events.

Kelly confesses that her goal of becoming a teacher started back when she was still a child. “I loved playing teacher in my mom’s class after school with my friends,” she reveals. “I always knew I would become a teacher, and I always knew it would be music that I taught,” she continued.

Kelly earned her Bachelor’s degree in Music with an emphasis in Vocal Performance from Stetson University in DeLand, Florida, in 1989.
 

WY music teacher Collin Binko garners prestigious Milken Educator Award

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Music educator Collin Binko of Jackson, Wyoming, has garnered a prestigious 2025 Milken Educator Award. Photo credit: Cowboy State Daily

In an atmosphere where Fine Arts are often undervalued, there are many educators throughout our country who continuously push forward to teach these courses in their schools. One of them, Collin Binko, teaches music to students of all ages in an entire district in Jackson, Wyoming. His efforts are so appreciated, that he has been named a 2024-2025 Milken Educator.

In addition to his role as the District Fine Arts Coordinator for Teton County Public Schools. Collin also teaches courses in choir, band, orchestra, and guitar at Jackson Hole High School.

A saxophone player, Collin completed his Bachelor’s degree in Music Education from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 2013.

According to the Milken Foundation, Collin earned the honor because he uses music to inspire students in a district where a third of the learners are multilingual. He’s credited with transforming the high school Fine Arts programs at both the middle school and the high school level. In fact, he doubled the enrollment in choir courses in each grade until all his classes were full to capacity. He relates music theory to core subjects such as math and reading. Collin produced the middle school’s first musical and included high schoolers who wanted to participate, while creating partnerships between the school and community groups such as the Cathedral Voices Chamber Choir.

Collin is one of only 45 educators nationwide to be honored with a Milken Educator Award this year. These prestigious honors have been described by Teacher Magazine as the “Oscars of Teaching.” In addition to the $25,000 cash prize and public recognition, the award includes membership in the National Milken Educator Network, a group of more than 2,700 exemplary teachers, principals, and specialists from all over the country whose work strengthens best practices in education. To learn more, click on Milken Educator Awards.

 

OK music teacher Leah McDonald garners Medal for Excellence

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Oklahoma music educator Leah is one of five outstanding teachers who has garnered a 2025 Medal for Excellence from the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence. McDonald Photo credit:Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence

There are many exceptional teachers working with young people in our nation’s public schools, and I am always pleased to shine a spotlight on one of them. Today I shine a light on Leah McDonald, an elementary school music teacher from Oklahoma. She is one of five outstanding teachers who has garnered a 2025 Medal for Excellence from the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence.

Leah teaches music to 750 K-5 students at Heritage Elementary at Edmond Public Schools in Oklahoma City. In her classroom, every one of her third, fourth, and fifth grade students plays the ukulele, including those with limited fine motor skills. Those students are given adaptive instruments and add-on devices with which to make music.

This unique classroom approach is appreciated by her peers. “Leah uniquely connects lessons to each grade level’s regular classroom Oklahoma Academic Standards,” remarks Cathey Bugg, the former Principal of Heritage Elementary. “Literacy is embedded in every lesson. Students read scores and lyrics and interact with children’s literature,” says Bugg.

Leah’s career as an educator spans 27 years, and 26 of them have been spent in Edmond, the city where she grew up. She says she decided to be a music teacher when she was only eight years old. “I became a teacher because of my love and passion for music,” she declares. “I teach music each day because I love children and making music with them,” she continues.

In addition to her work in the classroom, Leah has served in leadership positions in her school and in the state. She has served as an elementary music district facilitator, guiding and mentoring other music Edmond educators. She also chairs her school’s committee for the Great Expectations, a professional development program. In addition, she directs the Edmond Youth Chorus and also completed a stint as the President of the Oklahoma Music Educators Association from 2021-2023.

Her honor from the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence is not the only recognition Leah has earned. In 2004 she was named Teacher of the Year by Edmond Public Schools, and the same year she became a finalist for her state’s Teacher of the Year.

Leah earned both her Bachelor’s degree and her Master’s degree from Oklahoma State University.

Nebraska music educator Anna Sake earns prestigious honors

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Anna Sake

Music educator Anna Sake of Palmer, Nebraska, has been honored as a 2024-2025 recipient of a Performing Arts Educator Award by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS). Photo credit; Anna Sake

There are many exceptional educators working with young people in schools throughout the nation. One of them is Anna Sake, a music educator from Nebraska. She has been honored as a 2024-2025 recipient of a prestigious Performing Arts Educator Award by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS).

Anna is the K-12 Music Director at Palmer Public Schools, a rural district located in the town of Palmer in the southern central region of Nebraska. The courses she teaches include K-6 general music, 5th and 6th beginning band, junior high band and choir, and high school band and choir. She is well-known for her innovative teaching and her community engagement. She has led her students to achieve superior ratings in district and regional festivals, and her service in state organizations and her efforts to mentor young educators underscore her dedication to fostering a lifelong love of music in her students, say NFHS officials.

Anna, a Nebraska native, earned her Bachelor’s degree in Music Education from Nebraska’s Wayne State College in 2011. She earned her Master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction from Wayne State College in 2019. She hold minors in Trumpet, Percussion, and Voice.

The National Federation of State High School Associations, based in Indianapolis, Indiana, is the national leader and advocate for high school athletics as well as fine and performing arts programs. The organization serves 19,500 high schools and more than 12 million young people in all 50 states and Washington, DC. Each year, the NFHS honors one nominee in each state, honoring music educators that exemplify significant contributions to the music education in the areas of organization, service, and professionalism.

Music educator Maria “Madi” Bacon established famous San Francisco Boys Chorus

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Music educator Maria “Madi” Bacon established the famous San Francisco Boys Chorus. Photo credit: Find a Grave

During Women’s History Month, we spotlight many exemplary educators who taught in America’s schools One of them was Maria “Madi” Bacon, a music teacher who established the famous San Francisco Boys Chorus.

Madi was born on Feb. 15, 1906, in Chicago, Illinois. Her father, Dr. Charles Sumner Bacon, was the Chairman of Obstetrics and Gynecology at University of Illinois, and her mother, Marie Francisca Elise von Rostorn, was an Austrian countess. Madi was the fifth child born to the couple.

As a youngster, Madi graduated from high school in 1922. While still a high school student, she met Albert Einstein and, because she was fluent in German, she became his translator when he delivered lectures at the Covenant Club in Chicago. Later, Madi earned her Bachelor’s degree in Romance Languages in 1927 and her Master’s degree in 1941, both from the University of Chicago.

Madi inaugurated her career as an art teacher at Chicago’s Hull House, and in 1928 accepted a position as a music teacher and tennis coach at the Katherine Branson School in Ross, California. In 193, she relocated to a position as a music teacher at Glencoe Public School in Glencoe, Oklahoma.

Madi’s most significant achievement was to form the San Francisco Boys Chorus, which was the country’s only boy’s opera repertory chorus at that time. Many participants in the group went on to participate in the San Francisco Opera and some became major international musical talents. She also mentored several renowned conductors, including Calvin Simmons and Kent Nagano. She also served as Dean of Roosevelt University’s School of Music for six years.

Madi Bacon succumbed to congestive heart failure on Jan. 10 in Berkeley, California, on Jan. 10, 2001. She was 94 years old. For her work as an outstanding music teacher, Madi was inducted into the Alameda County Women’s Hall of Fame in 1994. You can learn more about this amazing Chalkboard Champion from this article published by the Chicago Tribune.