National Music Foundation Announces Third Year of Grants For Teachers Using American Music

The National Music Foundation has announced the third year of its American Music Education Initiative (AMEI). The AMEI is a program designed to recognize and support teachers who use American music in their classrooms. The AMEI is open to teachers of any subject, in any grade K-12, and in any academic setting. The AMEI has two elements: a competition for teachers, which provides rewards (including cash grants) and acknowledgements to teachers who submit to us outstanding lesson plans that use American music; and an on-line database of lesson plans that use American music, comprised of the winning lesson plans from the competition.

Teachers are invited to submit lesson plans that use American music. The plans are reviewed and evaluated by a distinguished panel of judges, which selects exceptional plans for one of three award levels: Finalist, Semi-finalist and Honorable Mention. Finalist teachers receive grants of $1,000; semi-finalist teachers receive grants of $500. All lesson plans chosen by the judges are then published in an on-line database, where they are available for free to other teachers.

Gloria Pennington, President and CEO of the Foundation, said: "The American Music Education Initiative has two goals: to acknowledge and reward teachers who are using American music in their classrooms, and to provide a free, easy-to-use resource for others who would like to do the same."

"The on-line database will have over 80 plans this year," said Ms. Pennington. "All the plans are available for free. Teachers can use them just as they are, or they can modify them to suit their own requirements. There are plans for every grade, on an amazing variety of subjects. And each plan has been carefully reviewed by our judges."

Applications and guidelines are available from the Foundation's Web site. They can also be obtained by calling 1-800-USA-MUSIC. Applications are due to the Foundation's New York office (150 West 55th St., Suite 5C, New York New York 10019) by September 1, 2000.

The National Music Foundation is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to American music. Its educational purpose is to preserve and celebrate our heritage of American music by encouraging and supporting the use of American music in schools.