The music just keeps on playing for Benton Intermediate School band director Cory Craig! Craig, who was named a 2022 Music Educator Award quarterfinalist by the Recording Academy and GRAMMY Museum, just learned she has advanced to the semifinals!

As one of the 25 semifinalist named, Craig has secured at least an award of a $500 honorarium with matching school grants. If she further advances as a finalist, the award amount increases to $1,000. If she manages to best the other nine finalist, Craig could receive a $10,000 honorarium and matching school grants. 

The Music Educator Award recognizes current educators who have made a significant and lasting contribution to the field of music education and who demonstrate a commitment to the broader cause of maintaining music education in schools.

Craig’s love for music began in middle school while she was in foster care. The experience was life-changing.

“This became my new escape as I went through foster care and counseling for the trauma we endured,” Craig said. “I tasted success for the first time and it overflowed into my other subjects, going from a failing student to an ‘A’ student. I also knew that year, my seventh grade year, I must become a band director one day to help give others this wonderful escape and experience.”

Craig fulfilled that dream, becoming a music educator in 2014, and now leads the Benton Intermediate School band program.

Finalists for the Music Educator Award will be announced in December. The eighth annual honoree and winner of the Music Educator Award will attend the 64th Annual GRAMMY Awards in Los Angeles and participate in GRAMMY Week events.