All about our May Awards

-Meredith Manley

Our May Awards Recital is always something we all look forward to at the end of each school year! Due to the circumstances, our May recital this year looks a little different: instead of performing for a live audience, our students are submitting a recorded video of themselves performing at home. They have been working so hard on their recital pieces, and we wanted to give them a chance to still perform in the safest way we could. We will be putting together the videos to make virtual recitals and sending them out to all of our families!

At the end of the May recital, we call up students one by one and present them their bag of yearly awards. Most families head home with their awards, but don’t always understand what they are for or how their child earned them. So I thought this blog would be a great way to explain all the different types of awards students can earn!

The 40 piece challenge award is perfect for beginning students in their first or second year of study, or for students who love to learn pieces on their own between lessons. Students have between September to May to learn 40 pieces- that’s a lot of pieces!! The longer a student studies their instrument, the harder it is to complete the challenge because their pieces are more complicated, so for the past couple of years we have extended the deadline through the end of the summer.

Honor Roll is another big award, and is difficult to achieve. For 15 weeks in the spring semester, students track their individual progress every week, and earn points for 5 different categories; practice, 40 piece challenge, theory, materials/attitude, and extras. Students set a practice goal for themselves based on their practice habits from the fall, and if they meet their practice goal for the week, they receive one point. The extras column is for students who learn a piece on their own, memorize a piece, do extra theory work, or who participate in spring DMTA/TMTA events such as the State Theory Exam and/or Achievement Auditions. The hardest part about Honor Roll is staying consistent for that long of a period. Oftentimes I see students start out strong, but at the halfway point they fizzle out. Or a student may be great at practicing, but they never complete their theory assignments. It really takes focus and discipline, and we feel it’s important to recognize those students who go above and beyond. There are two different Honor Roll awards: the composer bust (55+ points) and the metal treble clef bookmark (45-54 points). Honor roll students do not compete against each other, but rather with themselves to meet their personal goals. The only time students compete with each other is during MusicBall in the fall, when we split everyone up into teams and we have weekly matches.

Many of our students participate in DMTA events, so there is potential to earn awards for those as well. Students may earn ribbons for certain scores at the Sonatina Festival in December and at Achievement Auditions in April. Students who score a 90 or higher on the TMTA state theory exam either earn a bronze, silver, or gold medal depending on their grade, so their medals are included in awards bags each year as well. 

Our last category of awards has to do with how long a student has been studying their instrument. Awards start at half a year of study all the way through their senior year.

• Students who have been studying less than a year earn the First Year Award (treble clef plastic bookmark), and students who have studied over a year receive the Noteworthy Award (clef and eighth note pin).
• 2+ years is the Novice Award (MSS pen),
• 3+ years is the Piano Star Award (small engraved trophy),
• 5+ years is the Musician Award (one of my favorites- teacher and student go out on a snack date!),

• 7+ years is the Brilliance Award (teacher/student lunch date).
• The last award is for seniors, who receive a framed picture with their teacher and a plaque. 

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Our intention is never to hurt anyone’s feelings if they didn’t receive many awards. We know how challenging it is to earn some of these, and we feel that students who achieve them should be recognized and celebrated. Reflecting on the quality of a student’s work is a valuable lesson no matter the outcome because it shows them how far they’ve come in the last 9 months, and shows them what could be improved so that they earn a certain award next year. We think awards are the perfect way to end the school year, and we really are so proud of all of our students!