Brian McMath uses music as a way to heal others, helping one of his students recovering from an accident find hope again.
As a high school band director at Northwest Guilford High School in Greensboro, music is always the first source of comfort McMath turns to in any difficult situation. When one of his students suffered an injury to his arm after an ATV accident, McMath encouraged the student to find healing through music. His constant encouragement inspired the teen to reinvest not only in music, but more importantly, himself.
“Mr. McMath was the one teacher who made it his mission to help our son come out on the other side a stronger kid and even better musician,” said Dominic’s mother, Anna-Liv Deardorff.
McMath’s steadfast commitment and support to his students’ well-being is one of the many reasons he was selected as a N.C. School Hero.
I don’t feel like a hero,” said McMath. “I just feel like I did what any teacher would do. That’s what we do. We support our kids. It’s a band family. Family takes care of family.”
The North Carolina Education Lottery created the N.C. School Heroes campaign to showcase the positive impacts teachers, principals, and other school workers have in public schools every day. From 6,000 nominations, ten heroes were chosen with each receiving a $10,000 award and $10,000 for their school.
Deardorff and her son, Dominic, joined McMath on Friday morning for the award ceremony in the Northwest Guilford High School auditorium.
“There are thousands of heroes like Brian McMath doing amazing work in our public schools,” said Mark Michalko, executive director of the N.C. Education Lottery. “Teachers, cafeteria workers, custodians, school resource officers, all make a big difference for our students every day. We’re glad our School Heroes program shines a spotlight on their great work.”
Money raised by the lottery assists many of those School Heroes, including $386 million this year that supports the work of school support staff such as office assistants and custodians. Additional money will help build and repair schools, support the N.C. Pre-K program for “at-risk” four-year-olds, provide college scholarships and grants based on financial need, and help meet school transportation needs. For details on how $33.2 million in lottery funds made a difference in Guilford County last year, click on the “Impact” section of the lottery’s website,
www.nclottery.com.
Login to leave a comment.