The WMTA Teacher Award of Excellence program promotes high-quality music instruction by recognizing a teacher’s dedication and excellence. These teachers have demonstrated consistent high standards of teaching in their studio through the outstanding accomplishments of their students. The WMTA Teacher Awards of Excellence are presented to teachers based on the participation and points earned by their students in WMTA auditions and other events.
How teachers earn points and awards:
- A teacher receives one point when one of their students earns an award through WMTA participation.
- There is no limit for the number of points a teacher can earn in one season. Example: if a teacher has three students that each earned an award, the teacher receives three points (one for each student that earned an award).
- Students occasionally earn two awards in a season – in that case, the teacher also earns two points.
- An award certificate is presented to the teacher when they reach the following milestones: 10, 50, and 75 points.
- A plaque is awarded when the teacher reaches 100 points.
- The 100-point plaque is designed to hold gold bars that represent additional milestones as the teacher continues to accumulate points beyond the 100-point level.
- The gold bars are awarded in 25-point increments.
- Teachers who are interested in the Award of Excellence recognition need to use the “honor system” and document their own points.
- The teacher should contact the Award of Excellence chairperson by the first week of September to report the total number of points they earned from the previous year.
Teachers who receive awards will be recognized during the fall banquet at the annual WMTA state conference.
Rita Schuman, NCTM
Teacher of Award of Excellence Chair
ritaschuman1@gmail.com