Kim Hastings Named MusiCounts Teacher of the Year

By FYI Staff

Kim Hastings of Pioneer Middle School in Rocky Mountain House, AB, is the recipient of the 2019 MusiCounts Teacher of the Year Award. Hastings was surprised in her classroom with the award by MusiCounts, current and former students, colleagues, friends, and family. 

"We are thrilled to present Kim Hastings with this year's MusiCounts Teacher of the Year Award, to recognize the impact she has made on both her students and the music education community,” said Kristy Fletcher, Executive Director, MusiCounts. “She has worked tirelessly to make the music program at Pioneer Middle School accessible to all students, and her advocacy for music education has had a positive influence on curriculums at both the local and provincial level.”

As the MusiCounts Teacher of the Year Award recipient, Hastings receives a $10,000 cash donation, a significant contribution to the Pioneer Middle School music program, and a crystal statuette based on the Juno Award design, and she will be honoured by Jann Arden at the Juno Gala Dinner & Awards on March 16, in London, ON. 

A fierce advocate for music education in schools, Hastings has been a music teacher for over 30 years, 27 of them at Pioneer Middle School. She is a two-time winner of the Rocky Mountain House Mayor’s Award for Contribution to the Arts, and her school bands and ensembles have won many accolades and awards at the regional, provincial and national levels. Seventy-five percent of Pioneer Middle School students participate in her classes, some of whom have gone on to become music teachers themselves.