Doctoral student Elizabeth Hankins received the Yale Distinguished Music Educator Award. Hankins will travel to New Haven, Conn., in June to participate in the Symposium on Music in Schools that will take place at the Yale School of Music as part of the Music in Schools Initiative.
With support from the Yale College Class of 1957, the symposium honors 50 teachers from around the country for their outstanding accomplishments teaching music in public schools. This year’s symposium will focus on one main theme: The Role of Music in School Reform.
Hankins began pursuing her PhD in music education at Case Western Reserve University in the fall of 2010. She has taught in the Lakewood City Schools since 1990, where she now directs five orchestras at Lakewood High School—a school that consistently receives the highest ratings in state adjudicated events. Hankins is the founding director of The Lakewood Project, an innovative rock orchestra teaching students a lifelong love of music.