Five communities serving the GLOW region have been named among the best communities for music education by the NAMM Foundation.
The National Association of Music Merchants Foundation, a music products trade association, named Albion, Honoeye Falls-Lima, Le Roy, Pembroke and Perry among more than 700 school districts in 44 states on its 2022 list of best communities for music education program. The list is in its 23rd year.
“Music educators, administrators, and communities truly rallied to support and sustain music education through a period of intense change and adaptation. These districts and schools persevered in serving their students and communities and assured that music education was part of curriculum offerings,” Mary Luehrsen, executive director of the NAMM Foundation, said in a statement.
Le Roy has received the designation 16 times since 2006, and Albion has consistently made the list since 2008. Honeoye Falls-Lima has also made the list for several years.
Perry was first designated a Best Community for Music Education in 2019 and has made the list each year since. Pembroke, first named to the list in 2020, marks its third consecutive year as a Best Community for Music Education.
This year’s awards program was designed to celebrate schools and districts adapting, innovating, and persevering the face of change. Researchers at The Music Research Institute at the University of Kansas worked alongside The NAMM Foundation to create and way for districts and schools to address the effects of the pandemic and goals for equity and access to music education for all students and national standards for music education in a short survey.
Collaboration and innovation were also common themes of districts named “Best Communities,” according to The NAMM Foundation.
In addition to the 738 districts receiving Best Communities for Music Education recognition, 80 individual schools across the country were awarded the SupportMusic Merit Awards, which recognizes support for school-based music education programs.
Since its inception, more than 2,000 schools and school districts have submitted a survey for evaluation. Based on survey responses in 2021, the foundation recognized 686 school districts as Best Communities for Music Education, and 80 schools with the SupportMusic Merit Award.
