Winnipeg music teacher up for national award presented at Juno Awards

A Winnipeg music teacher is heading to the Juno Awards in May after being nominated for a national award.

Jewel Casselman, who teaches at Lakewood School, is one five teachers across the country who was nominated for the Teacher of the Year Award by MusiCounts, which is a national music education charity that helps kids across Canada learn music.

"It is very exciting and a huge honour to be nominated for this award," said Casselman in an interview on Wednesday.

Casselman said an award like this helps showcase the great musical work that is being done in schools across Canada.

She said she and her students watched the nomination announcement in class and the students were extremely excited.

"They've all be applauding. They're so excited and I just think are really proud of me and what we do here at the school in Lakewood," she said.

Casselman has been teaching music since 1988 and said it is never a dull moment.

"Every day is a new adventure in music class," she said. "It's always lots of creativity. The children come in, they are eager to come into the music room. They like learning the different instruments, they like creating and writing music and creating their own things and learning new skills all the time."

Casselman said learning music at a young age is so important for kids.

"It's a great way to get them invested in their own learning. It helps them with their language and their reading, their mathematics, it introduces them to social studies and history,” she said.

“It just makes them all very well-rounded. It helps their creative juices flow in the classroom."

She added that it helps kids socialize and also improves their mental health, especially during the pandemic.

Casselman will find out if she has won the award at the Juno Awards on May 15 in Toronto.

- With files from CTV's Nicole Dube.