Dr. Jerry Markoch of Athens Drive High School Named Winner of Parkhurst Award
The North Carolina Symphony has named Anita Hynus as the winner of the prestigious 2015 Maxine Swalin Award for Outstanding Music Educator. Hynus, a teacher for 34 years, has been with Wake County Public Schools for 16 years, and is the Orchestra Director at Martin GT Magnet Middle School, in Raleigh, N.C.
Dr. Jerry Markoch, Director of Bands at Athens Drive High School in Raleigh, N.C., is the recipient of the 2015 Jackson Parkhurst Award for Special Achievement, given in years in which there is a particularly strong second candidate for the Swalin Award. Markoch is currently in his 29th year of teaching, and in his 21st year at Athens Drive.
Anita Hynus graduated with a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in Music Education from Marshall University in Huntington, WV. She has a wide variety of teaching experiences in music education and is accomplished in the field of Literacy in the Arts. She is an energetic, dedicated teacher leader who is well respected by her colleagues. Her students create and perform a wide range of music, complete interdisciplinary projects, and integrate literacy strategies in their daily music instruction. Recently her students performed a pre-concert Ovations program for the North Carolina Symphony and at the Pieces of Gold Performance for the Wake County Public School System. This month, she will attend Yale’s fifth biennial Symposium on Music in Schools as part of activities surrounding a Yale Distinguished Music Award given to a partnership between the North Carolina Symphony and the Wake County Public School System.
During Dr. Jerry Markoch’s tenure at Athens Drive, the band program has grown to 180 members and has earned significant honors and numerous awards at local and regional marching band events. Dr. Markoch completed a Ph.D. in Music Education at Louisiana State University, a master’s degree in Music at Bowling Green State University, and a bachelor’s degree in Music at the University of Akron. Among his numerous honors and awards, in May, 2009, he received the “Teachers of Excellence Award” for outstanding teaching and community service from the Harris Teeter Corporation. In 2012, Dr. Markoch was selected by School and Band Orchestra Magazine as North Carolina's top band director in the 15th Annual "50 Directors Who Make a Difference”.
The Swalin Award is presented annually to a North Carolina music teacher who serves the community as a role model in music education, instills a love for music in children and inspires students to reach appropriately high musical standards. It is named for Maxine Swalin, who, together with her husband Dr. Benjamin Swalin, North Carolina Symphony Music Director from 1939-72, established the children’s concert division of the Symphony in 1945. The Jackson Parkhurst Award is named for the Symphony’s long-time Director of Education. Recipients of both awards are nominated by students, parents, colleagues and community members and selected by the Symphony’s Education Committee.