Music Educator of the Year

Congratulations to Sharpstein Elementary Music Teacher Lori Parnicky for being named Columbia Basin Region Music Educator of the Year by the Washington Music Educators Association (WMEA). She will be honored at the WMEA Music Conference in February. Parnicky has been employed in the district for 18 years.

“Lori is a tremendous music educator and a great music advocate for music in Walla Walla,” said Roger Garcia, district music coordinator. “From her work in her classes at Sharpstein Elementary School, her private teaching at Whitman College and Walla Walla University and her performing with the Walla Walla Symphony, her impact on Walla Walla is far and wide.”

Parnicky says it is important to expose students to music at a young age to give them rhythm and pitch they can use throughout their lives. She says musical experience has also been linked to improved test scores.