The Chateauguay Valley community sat down on March 29 to watch our very own music specialist, Lynn Harper, attend Canada’s biggest music celebration as a nominee for a Juno award.
Harper said she was humbled to be selected as one of five nominees from across the country for the MusiCounts music Teacher of the Year award, which was handed out during the live broadcast following a week of activities leading up to the awards ceremony in Hamilton.
“We were treated like royalty by the MusiCounts family, by JUNO nominees, by music industry executives and by the media,” Harper wrote in a social media post shortly after the event.
During the week, she and the other nominees attended a MusiCounts opening event, where she gave a speech on behalf of this year’s nominees to industry people, the president of the Junos, other nominees, and sponsors.
“I told them the story of me coming into CVR on the first day. That was a sad day when I opened the cupboards and there were 15 guitars with holes in them and twisted trombones,” she said, explaining that she was able to rebuild the music program over the years with three grants totalling over $36,000 in funding from MusiCounts and private donations.
The nominees also attended a Juno Welcome Gala, a Song Circle with Juno-winning and Juno-nominated singer-songwriters, an Honouring Ceremony led by Indigenous artists, and a Juno Awards Gala dinner.
On the day of the ceremony, Harper and the other nominees were driven to the venue where they walked the orange carpet, paused for photographs, and did interviews with Canadian media.
Music teacher Raquel McIntosh of Hamilton wound up winning the award, which was presented by Mike DeAngelis and Max Kerman of the band The Arkells. McIntosh delivered an eloquent, impassioned speech about the importance of music education on live TV that brought Harper to tears.
The rest of the night included many fabulous awards and performances, including the recognition of Joni Mitchell with a Lifetime Achievement award. She was introduced by Prime Minister Mark Carney, and the presentation ended with Mitchell herself on stage to perform her classic Big Yellow Taxi.
Overall, Harper said it was a humbling and affirming experience. “I think one of the most beautiful things was receiving emails from kids I had taught many, many years ago. Some have kids of their own, or they’re teachers now. One student wrote to me and said, ‘I remember how inclusive you were in your classroom, how you accepted me and my group of friends. And I try to do that in my own classroom’,” she said.
Harper also noted how she enjoyed meeting likeminded people throughout the week. “With the other four nominees, I feel like I have four new friends because we were all at that level of thinking, and we are all kind of pushy because we’re all wanting the most for our students,” she added.
*This article was written by a student in Grade 7 at CVR as part of a partnership between the New Frontiers School Board and The Gleaner, with support from the federal government.