SUBURBAN BAND DIRECTOR TO RECEIVE MUSIC EDUCATOR AWARD
SUBURBAN BAND DIRECTOR TO
RECEIVE MUSIC EDUCATOR AWARD
By Safiyyah Muhammad
Dr. Roosevelt Griffin, Director of Bands for Harvey
SD 152 was recently selected as one of the top 25
national semi-finalists who will receive a music
educator’s award from the Grammy Foundation,
during the upcoming 2017 Music Educator Award. The
Grammy Award ceremony will be hosted February 12, 2017, in
Los Angeles at the Staples Center.
“I didn’t expect to be nominated, because there were several
thousand people across the nation who I was competing
against, so during this past March, they selected 290 quarterfinalists.
At that point I was one of 20 from Illinois. It was
shocking to get that far. The idea of becoming one of the top 25
semi-finalists, was truly shocking,” Griffin said.
Griffin also stated that he currently serves
as head musician for his church, and was
nominated by the church’s Minister of Music
back in February, after the Grammy awards was
over.
According to the Harvey School District 152
press release, Griffin is the only semi-finalist
from Illinois who will receive the prestigious
award.
“The process of being selected was that
anyone could be nominated, particularly if
they worked in the field of music, or were a
music teacher. Once the nomination happens,
the Grammy selects the quarter-finalists based
off their initial application. I had to answer
a few questions, talk about my philosophy of
teaching and submit a video demonstrating me
teaching music lessons. This past October, they
took the 290 finalist and selected 25 of those
finalists based off video footage and questions
submitted.”
In addition to being Band Director for
Harvey SD 152, Griffin also serves as Middle
School Liaison for the Jazz Education Network,
which is an international organization for jazz
educators. He also co-authored a text book
for the Center of Music Education entitled,
“Teaching Music through Performance.”
Griffin noted that he is also on a speaking
circuit, where he speaks to different universities
and organizations around the country about
jazz education.
“Music education is one of a few areas
that allow students to bring out their inner
emotions, and it also allows them to be
creative. It embraces cultures from around the
world and it gives students real life experience
with other cultures. A lot of what happens in
music can be taken back into communities, to
enrich these communities,” Griffin said.
Griffin also stressed that more funding
should be put in music education and that the
state should recognize the importance and
value of music appreciation. He said, “I think
that the state should look at music education
and the impact that it has on students’ lives, as
opposed to spending more money on programs
that have been proven not to work. We have
research to show progress and positive results
coming out of music education. I think the
state should tap into the power of music
education and look at the research.”
According to Griffin, he is also President
and CEO of the Griffin Institute, a not-for profit
organization located in Dolton, Illinois.
Griffin stated that the institute creates a
platform for young student musicians, dancers,
actors, who attend school in the south suburbs,
but who do not have access to the fine arts.
“One of the greatest inspirations for me is
that my former students come back and tell me
how well they are doing in life. When I have
students who were raised in poverty, and now
they are in medical school, I know that music
education was one of the key components to
their success.
This also points to the fact that music
education has the power to transform people’s
lives again and again. Each day, I also believe
I am in front of the next lawyer, doctor,
politician, or the next person who is going
to change the world. I realize that I am a
contribution to their lives and in turn, they (his
students) will become a contribution to the
world. For me, that is true inspiration
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