This award was established to recognize current educators (kindergarten through college, public and private schools) who’ve made a significant and lasting contribution to the field of music education and who demonstrate a commitment to the broader cause of maintaining music education in the schools.

It’ll be presented at the Special Merit Awards Ceremony & Nominees Reception during GRAMMY Week leading up to the 56th Annual GRAMMY Awards show Sunday, Jan. 26, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

The winner will be flown there to accept the award, attend the GRAMMY Awards ceremony and receive a $10,000 honorarium. The nine finalists will each receive $1,000 honorariums and the schools of all 10 finalists will receive matching grants.

Glen McCarthy was nominated by Skip Charles, founder of Music for Life (formerly Guitars not Guns), which offers after-school music classes to at-risk youth. “I’ve worked with him, given him some curriculum suggestions and taught some of the classes,” said McCarthy. “I was humbled and honored that Skip went through the steps to nominate me.”

While he taught at Robinson Secondary in 1980, the school received the Guitar & Accessories Marketing Assn.’s inaugural award honoring innovative guitar programming in the U.S. And in 2003, McCarthy was nominated for FCPS Teacher of the Year.

He believes he’s a top 10 Grammy contender because of his activities outside the classroom. Currently, he chairs the National Association for Music Education Guitar Council, plus the American String Teachers Assn. Guitar-in-the-Schools Committee.