FORTVILLE — Mt. Vernon High School’s music department ended the year on a high note.
The Indiana State School Music Association recently gave its All-Music Total Department Award to the school.
The school earned the association’s Band Department Award, as it has in previous years. Its choir department earned a Choral Department Award for the first time. Both distinctions were needed to merit the Total Department Award.
Greenfield-Central and New Palestine high schools earned the Indiana State School Music Association’s Band Department Award this school year as well.
Mick Bridgewater, executive director of the Indiana State School Music Association, said Mt. Vernon’s success at association events throughout the school year contributed to the school’s band and choral awards.
The high school’s a cappella group, “Locked Out,” earned a Gold rating at the Indiana State School Music Association Vocal Jazz Contest earlier in the school year, for instance.
Mt. Vernon is among 14 out of more than 400 high schools across the state to earn the Total Department Award.
“It’s something that a lot of schools work really hard to achieve and not very many achieve it,” Bridgewater said.
Jackie Nason, band director at Mt. Vernon High School, said in a news release that the acknowledgement exemplifies the school’s musical comprehensiveness.
“I am really proud of the award because I think the achievement not only represents the quality we are producing here at MVHS but also that our music department is well-rounded,” Nason said. “I always tell our students that we should be excellent in everything we do, and this award is a testament to the students’ efforts in creating that culture.”
Leigh Anderson, choir teacher at Mt. Vernon High School, said in the release that she, her colleagues and singers are honored to have contributed to the recognition.
“We are very proud that the choral department was able to help the music department reach this achievement, showing that we provide an excellent music program at MVHS,” Anderson said.
