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player ready...A music teacher at a Northbrook elementary school is among the finalists for a distinguished honor for his work in the classroom.
Jeremy Bartunek, of Greenbriar School, was recently named one of 30 finalists for the Golden Apple Award for Excellence in Teaching, “a prestigious recognition of Illinois teachers who go above and beyond,” according to a news release announcing the award and finalists.
Bartunek said he was very shocked to learn that he was one of 30 finalists for the award — out of a grand total of 732 applicants from 64 different counties across Illinois.
“I was surprised and really happy,” he said. “I found out at about 9:30 at night on a Tuesday and I ran in to tell my wife who was brushing her teeth and I was like ‘oh my god, you won’t believe this.'”
Golden Apple made the announcement about finalists Jan. 23.
Bartunek, 35, currently serves as the general music teacher for Greenbriar School and works with all the grade levels at the K-5 school. He is in his seventh year at Greenbriar but has been teaching for a total of eleven years, he said.
The Golden Apple Teaching Award “honors outstanding teachers for their roles in having lasting, positive effects on students’ lives and school communities,” according to the news release from the Golden Apple program.
Students, parents and fellow teachers make nominations for the award, which focuses on a different age range each year. This year, educators who teach students in grades 4-8 are being recognized, according to the release.
“Besides teaching general music, I also do the annual winter sing performance and the fifth grade spring musical, which I really enjoy,” Bartunek said in the release.
Working with the school’s art teacher, Bartunek said he writes the spring musical each year which allows him to stay in touch with his passion for music composition.
“I get to write music and workshop it,” he said in the release. “I get to direct musicals and for a lot of the people that I went to school with, music composition is something they have to do as a hobby after work.”
Bartunek said he finds it difficult to pinpoint specifically why someone may have nominated him for the award.
“Mainly what motivates me is that it is just so great when I can see the kids getting excited about music,” he said. “We do stuff with the art teachers and the science teachers and it’s just so much fun to see how we can take a cross-curricular approach to everything instead of having each department be its own little silo.”
Bartunek said int he strives to take a new, cross-curricular approach to teaching music, according to the release.
“We’re constantly trying new things and seeing what worked and really just seeing how their (students’) creativity can blossom,” he said.
Bartunek’s approach to teaching is what Golden Apple looks to encourage and reward, Alan Mather, the organization’s president, said in the release.
“Now more than ever, it is essential to shine the light on the transformational role outstanding teachers play in the future success of Illinois and our nation,” Mather wrote in a press release.
Bartunek said that a love for music has run in his family for generations.
“My grandpa was in a polka band in Chicago in the ’60s and ’70s with Wayne King,” he said in the release. “So, I started playing the drums when I was 2 years old, [started] playing piano at 4.”
The release states that Bartunek got his bachelor’s degree in music composition from Wheaton College and a master’s degree in music from Western Illinois University.
As a Golden Apple award finalist, Bartunek will be honored Feb. 22 at the Golden Apple Celebration of Excellence in Teaching and Leadership event in St. Charles, according to the release.
As part of the final selection process, the Golden Apple team will observe Bartunek Feb. 24 at the school, and interview his students, colleagues and parents, the release states.
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Bartunek will be notified in late-March or April if he is one of 10 teachers who will receive the award. If he is chosen, he will receive $5,000 for his outstanding service as an educator, organization officials said.
Bartunek said he plans to use the money to buy the guitar of his childhood dreams.
The music teacher said in the release that, regardless of the outcome, he is honored to be named a finalist for the award.
“I’m in a great district with so much support from the community and the families,” he said. “So, it’s an honor for me to be teaching here and especially getting this far to be a finalist, it just feels really good.”
Kelli Duncan is a freelancer.