Two MCPS Music Teachers Named ‘Outstanding Educators of the Year’ by the Maryland Music Educators Association

MCPS music teachers Carolyn Herman and Amy Vanek have been named Outstanding Educators of the Year by the Maryland Music Educators Association (MMEA). MCPS shared the news in its staff bulletin this week.

Herman has taught instrumental music at Thomas S. Wootton High School for 20 years. Her top orchestra has performed at many MMEA and All-Eastern conferences, as well as the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic. She co-directs Wootton’s award-winning marching band and conducts the orchestra for the theater productions. She also volunteers to promote music education by working as the manager of the All-State Orchestra and as a member of the Montgomery County Music Educators Association (MCMEA). She has spent her entire 30-year career in MCPS.

Vanek is a choral music teacher at Clarksburg High School and has been a choral music educator since 2005. She has directed the choirs of Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School, Clarksburg High School and the International School of Qingdao, China. She has conducted the Montgomery County 9-12 Youth Chorus for the past three years. She serves the state of Maryland and Montgomery County as a new teacher mentor and mentor to music education students. She is also a music curriculum advisor for MCPS and an adjudication clinician across counties. In 2018, she presented the performance plus session at the MMEA Conference, and in 2019 with a session on advanced treble repertoire. She has been published in the Maryland and National Association for Music Education (NAfME) journals on several occasions.

The two were honored during an MMEA conference last month.

Courtesy of MCPS