2026 Grammy Music Educator Award honoree strikes a chord with band class: "She lets us tell everyone our story with music"
Jennifer Jimenez, a longtime band director at a Miami high school, has been named the winner of the 2026 Music Educator Award, "CBS Mornings" revealed on Thursday.
This year's honoree of the Recording Academy and Grammy Museum's annual award celebrating American music teachers goes beyond teaching music, emphasizing the hard work, teamwork, and respect that shape every musical performance.
"There's the joke about there being no I in team; there's no I in band either," Jimenez, who has served as South Miami Senior High School's band director for nearly two decades, told "CBS Mornings."
Life lessons in band class
Jimenez jokes that giving her students the freedom to choose their own music "is like revolutionary" in the world of band. But that's not necessarily the first thing students mention when they praise their band teacher.
"She lets us tell everyone our story with music," student Alisson Martinez said.
Izabella Tapanes says Jimenez sees potential in everyone and encourages students to excel daily.
"Band is a lot of mindset, right?" Tapanes said. "Everybody in this band has the mindset of, okay, today we're gonna make one thing better."
Jimenez's students say the band room has become a safe space for them – one former student even says it changed his future.
"If it wasn't because of music, I would've probably dropped out," said Mario Portela Pardo, Jimenez's former student.
Portela Pardo says Jimenez's tough love motivated him to focus. "She helped me realize that life is about figuring out what you want and then finding a way there."
Portela Pardo followed in Jimenez's footsteps and is now a band director who thinks of students beyond the part they play in the band.
"It's blending the ability to care about the individual," Portela Pardo said. "Not only how they're doing in school, but how are they doing as a person."
Music opens doors
Jimenez's parents chose to bring a piano home when she was 6 years old.
"We didn't have cable, like we just couldn't afford it. So I played piano," Jimenez said.
"And that just opened up a whole world for me."
Now, Jimenez is exposing hundreds of students to a world where excellence is a choice.
"If you're here and you're doing it, do it well," Jimenez advised. "You might not have natural talent, but you can choose to do the work. And they choose it every day. And that's, you know, the results."