THE JANE ORTNER EDUCATION AWARD PROGRAM
Educator Lois MacMillan of Grants Pass, Ore. announced as 2018 Jane Ortner Education Award Recipient! Learn more about her and access her unit of lesson plans!
APPLICATIONS FOR THE 2019 JANE ORTNER EDUCATION AWARD WILL BE ACCEPTED BEGINNING JUNE 15, 2018!
For application guidelines and FAQs, please click here.
The 2018 recipient received:
- A $3,000 honorarium
- A $1,000 grant awarded to their school
- Two tickets to the 60th Annual GRAMMY Awards® on Sunday, Jan. 28, 2018 in New York City, plus travel and accommodations
- ...and will be honored at the GRAMMY Museum's annual celebration in Los Angeles!
For more information about the program and our FREE professional development resources for teachers, please see below.
The Jane Ortner Education Award celebrates K-12 educators who integrate music into English, social studies, math, science, and foreign language instruction. Applicants submit one original unit of lessons that incorporates music and are then eligible for prizes and unique professional development opportunities. In addition to our annual award, the program offers free professional development webinars, workshops in LA and across the country, and an online library of music-integrated lessons for use in the classroom.
The Jane Ortner Artist Award recognizes an artist who embodies the Museum's educational mission and shows passion and dedication to education through the arts.
Jane Ortner was a devoted and beloved public school teacher who valued music as a powerful tool for teaching academic subjects. Through the daily use of music in her classroom, Mrs. Ortner instilled in her students creativity, confidence in their abilities, a sense of community, and a love of learning. In her memory, the GRAMMY Museum and the Ortner family are proud to honor K-12 academic educators who foster a creative learning environment and enhance the educational experience through the use of music.
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What are the requirements?
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- Complete the application
- Submit an original unit of lessons for your English language arts, social studies, science, math, or foreign language class. It must incorporate music as a tool for teaching course content.
- A unit can focus on foreign language instruction (e.g. lessons for Spanish class) but the submission itself must be in English.
- Each teacher must complete his/her own application. There are no team submissions and there is no nomination process for the Jane Ortner Education Award.
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Who can participate?
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- Elementary, middle, and high school educators who teach English language arts, social studies, science, math, or a foreign language.
- Previous recipients of the Jane Ortner Education Award are ineligible.
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Do I have to sing or play an instrument?
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No – educators don’t have to sing or play an instrument, although we encourage the exploration of artistic abilities!
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What are some examples of lessons that incorporate music?
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Click here to view each award recipient's unit
Click here to view additional teacher submitted units
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What are the prizes?
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The 2018 recipient will receive:
- A $3,000 honorarium
- A $1,000 grant awarded to their school
- Two tickets to the 60th Annual GRAMMY Awards® on Sunday, Jan. 28, 2018 in New York City, plus travel and accommodations
- ...and will be honored at the GRAMMY Museum's annual celebration in Los Angeles!
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How do I apply?
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THE APPLICATION PERIOD FOR THE 2018 JANE ORTNER EDUCATION AWARD HAS ENDED.
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The adjudication process:
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Submissions will be reviewed and evaluated by a panel of teachers and education administrators.
Our judges recommend that you keep these criteria in mind when preparing your curriculum:
- Creativity
- Teachability – can the curriculum be implemented successfully and with ease?
- Transferability – can the general design of the lesson(s) be modified for students of different ages/grade levels?
- Level of engagement – will students be actively engaged in a number of ways? (e.g. writing, discussing, working in a group/individually, and so on)
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What if I have additional questions?
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Please write to us at [email protected]
2018
Lois MacMillan – 8th Grade U.S. History
South Middle School – Grants Pass, Ore.
Rappin' History: Composing Historical Raps in the Classroom (with Lessons Integrating Historical Raps from "Hamilton")
Lois MacMillan's unit contains numerous lessons linking the Founding Era to the GRAMMY®-winning Broadway musical "Hamilton." Aiming to harness the excitement of her students, MacMillan tasked students with creating original rap songs as an extension of primary and secondary source analysis and annotation. The unit also provides a stand-alone framework for creating original rap pieces in non-music subject classrooms.
2017
Nathan Strayhorn – 10th Grade English
Fayetteville High School – Fayetteville, AR
The Ballad of the American Dream: Songs of The Great Gatsby
Nathan's own love for listening to and making music led to his creation of a songwriting-centered curriculum used to bolster students’ understanding of F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic American novel The Great Gatsby. After reading The Great Gatsby, students learned about the poetic and musical origins of the ballad and how it became an American narrative song tradition. The class studied different approaches to ballads by artists such as Joan Baez, Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, and Warren G. Students were ultimately tasked with writing their own ballads in groups, utilizing both the musical talents of their peers and digital music resources. Each composition adhered to a class rubric, relayed the individual narrative of one of the characters, and communicated a major theme from the novel: the gain and loss of the American Dream. The project culminated in a live performance and recorded album of Gatsby ballads.
2016
Jonathan Bernal – 8th Grade English
Topaz Preparatory Academy – Hesperia, CA
The Outsiders: A “Tuff” Study of the Novel Through Music
Jonathan’s curriculum is built around the exploration of identity—specifically group identity versus individuality—using S. E. Hinton's coming-of-age novel The Outsiders as the central component. In this unit students unpack the novel, study the role of identity in key movements of the 1960s, and analyze notable songs, poetry, and other supplemental written works. For their final project, students work in groups to create and record a radio show.
2015
Kylie Ko – 5th Grade Science (Dual-Language Korean/English)
Mark Keppel Elementary School – Glendale, CA
Broadway Stars
Kylie’s “Broadway Stars” theme-based curriculum was developed to teach her students about plant structures and life science, incorporating both Korean and English. Together with their teacher, students create a mini-musical consisting of songs, dialogue, movement, and technology.
2014
Sunshine Cavalluzzi – 11th and 12th Grade Economics
El Dorado High School – Placentia, CA
Money, Money, Money: Musiconomics!
Sunshine’s curriculum teaches concepts in economics through activities that explore the music industry and its financial relationships. Students also study songs that focus on socio-economic conditions and work in groups to create an original song that incorporates course content.
2013
Erica Amann and Sunshine Cavalluzzi – 11th and 12th Grade Social Sciences
El Dorado High School – Placentia, CA
Give Peace - or Amazing Grace! - a Chance
In this team-created project, students collaborate in groups to analyze protest songs and sacred songs. They explore the meaning and context of songs, the effectiveness of expression through music, and seek out similarities and differences between songs from a wide variety of cultures, faiths, movements, and religions. (*Note: this activity is undertaken as a collaborative exercise between two elective classes—Contemporary World Affairs and Comparative Religions—but the structure would work in any class.)
2012
Bianca Wilson Cole – 9th and 10th Grade English
Washington Preparatory High School – Los Angeles, CA
Fences: An Odyssey Through Music
Bianca’s curriculum is built around August Wilson’s Fences. Students analyze how song lyrics from a variety of genres reflect the conflicts (either internal or external) characters from the play endure. They are also tasked with writing an essay that demonstrates the evolution of a dynamic character in Fences, using specific examples and textual evidence.
2011
Nicole Naditz – High School French
Bella Vista High School – Fair Oaks, CA
Noteworthy Language: Using Music to Build Second Language Knowledge and Cultural Proficiency
Nicole’s curriculum contains activities and ideas for teachers of world languages and English language development. The class activities, broken down into six sections, are described in English but are intended to be done in the target language. As a result, the curriculum is designed to work with music in any language.
Jane Ortner Artist Award Recipients
2016 RECIPIENT
2015 RECIPIENT
2014 RECIPIENT
INAUGURAL RECIPIENT
John Legend
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Whimsical Writers in Kindergarten: Using Music to Facilitate Writing
Grace Cecilio – Kindergarten
Virginia Road Elementary School – Los Angeles, CA
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8 Sample Activities for Early Elementary Students: Working Together as a Musical Community to Enhance Mathematical Learning
Liz Haraksin – Kindergarten
Mountain View Elementary School – Ontario, CA
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An Introduction to Close Reading Through Song Lyrics: A Unit for the Middle School or High School English Class
Jennifer McArthur – 7th Grade English
Ridgecrest Intermediate School – Rancho Palos Verdes, CA
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Suicide Prevention: Reaching Teens through Music
Kelli Bourne – 7th Grade Health
Lakeside Middle School – Irvine, CA
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Music and Performance: A Cross-Curricular Creative Mini Unit
Maggie Clarke and John Honish – 7th Grade English and Geography
Turner Middle School – Beloit, WI
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Using Music as a Primary Source in the Social Studies Classroom
David Bally – 10th Grade History
Lyons Community School – Brooklyn, NY
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The Drums of War: Analyzing American Music from WWI, WWII, and the Vietnam War
Heather Moore – 11th and 12th Grade US History
Arcadia High School – Arcadia, CA
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La Famille: Family Relationships as seen through French Music
Caroline Little – 11th and 12th Grade French
Saint Thomas Academy – Mendota Heights, MN
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Music in Physics, Physics in Music: Making Sweet Sounds of Formulas
Lance Kuehn – AP Physics
Rosemount High School – Rosemount, MN