APRIL

Grammy Factory

There were no trophies to bring home in 2022 to polish, but the work of MTSU graduates still shone at the 64th annual Grammy Awards, announced April 3 in Las Vegas.

Nine MTSU alumni were nominated in genres ranging from pop to roots gospel to traditional blues to Latin music for their work on projects released between September 2020 and September 2021.

MTSU nominees and their categories were:

• 2015 alumna Maria Elisa Ayerbe engineered Colombian Paula Arenas’ Mis Amores album.

• Tony Castle, a 1995 graduate, engineered Willie Nelson’s That’s Life, Nelson’s second tribute collection of Frank Sinatra’s music. Castle also was a nominee for engineering Blues Traveler’s latest release, Traveler’s Blues.

• Billy Hickey, a 2006 alumnus, was nominated for his work on Ariana Grande’s Positions

• 1994 graduate F. Reid Shippen was nominated for engineering country standout Mickey Guyton’s release, Remember Her Name.

• 2000 alumnus Jason A. Hall and 2014 grad Jimmy Mansfield were nominated for engineering the Brothers Osborne’s Skeletons

• 2000 alumnus Wayne Haun, a producer/songwriter, was nominated with his longtime collaborators Ernie Haase & Signature Sound on their roots gospel album, Keeping On

• And 2003 graduates Ceylon Wise and Ashley Brooks Wise were part of the best children’s music albumnominated compilation, All One Tribe.

MTSU Returns to the Grammys

True Blue returned to the Grammys in full force Friday, April 1, as MTSU resumed its annual pilgrimage to the music industry’s biggest showcase to celebrate alumni nominees and provide students career-building experiences.

For instance, five Media and Entertainment students helped prepare the MGM Grand Conference Center for the 31st annual MusiCares Person of the Year benefit gala honoring legendary performer Joni Mitchell.

COVID-19 concerns in 2021 broke MTSU’s seven-year streak of hosting Grammy site events and lining up student experiences. The pandemic also delayed the 2022 event by three months, forcing it away from Los Angeles and to Las Vegas for an open venue.

‘Oscars’ of Education

Two MTSU College of Education alumni were recognized in April 2022 for their superior teaching, each receiving a Milken Educator Award—known as the “Oscar” of education—and the $25,000 cash prize that accompanies the honor.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee and Tennessee Department of Education Commissioner Penny Schwinn attended assemblies at the award winners’ schools to surprise the two outstanding educators.

The winners were Raeven Brooks, second-grade teacher at Black Fox Elementary School in Murfreesboro, and Tyler Hallstedt, eighth-grade history teacher at Mount Juliet Middle School in Mount Juliet.

Their wins put Hallstedt and Brooks in an elite group of only 41 winners from across the country in 2022.

The Milken Family Foundation created the award and prize money 35 years ago to recognize early and midcareer teachers for their already-impressive achievements and the promise of their future accomplishments.

Brooks, a Murfreesboro native, started teaching in 2016 at Black Fox Elementary after graduating with an MTSU degree in Early Childhood Education. She will graduate with her Administration and Supervision master’s degree from the University in spring 2023.

Hallstedt transferred to MTSU after a move from Michigan and earned his degree in Interdisciplinary Studies with a focus on social studies in 2013.