Former Neepawa resident honoured at JUNO Awards Jewel Casselman named MusiCounts Teacher of the Year for 2023

By Casper Wehrhahn Neepawa Banner & Press

A Winnipeg woman was honoured with a prestigious award earlier this month. Jewel Casselman, formerly from Neepawa, was declared the winner of the 2023 MusiCounts Teacher of the Year Award during a live broadcast of the JUNOs.

“I am honoured and elated to be selected as the 2023 MusiCounts Teacher of the Year. Thank you to my family and my students who inspire me to teach every day and to all of my colleagues and administrators who share my belief in the importance of music education for elementary aged students,” Casselman said in a media release. “Giving students the opportunity to enhance their communication skills, overcome barriers and learn new skills through music is an honour.”

MusiCounts is Canada’s leading music education charity and had chosen Casselman for her successful advocation for music to be added to kindergarten programming at several schools in the Winnipeg area, helping elementaryaged children build a foundation of musical knowledge and sitting on several committees that promote diversity, inclusivity and equity.

But that’s not all. MusiCounts also acknowledged several other items in her 34 year-long career, such as her collaboration with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, decade long involvement as a board member of the Manitoba Orff Chapter and successful application for the MusiCounts Band Aid program grant in 2013, which was used to purchase Orff instruments for Lakewood School.

Since the purchase of the aforementioned instruments, said MusiCounts, the program has flour - ished since then, with a generation of students from both the instruments and Casselman’s dedicated instruction.

With such a proficient career, this award win is all the sweeter, as Casselman will be retiring from teaching at the end of this year.

“[That] makes this distinction especially wonderful,” Casselman enthused.

Casselman has been recognized for her dedication in the past, receiving the Morna-June Award for Excellence in Music Education in Manitoba in 2014, the Michael J. Proudfoot Award for Choral Excellence from the Winnipeg Music Festival in 2019 and prior nominations for the MusiCounts Teacher of the Year Award in 2019, 2020 and 2022.

As part of Casselman’s 2023 award win, she is also receiving $10,000 cash prize, a grant for Lakewood School through the MusiCounts Band Aid Program and a JUNO Award statuette.