School, Band Director Each Win BRAVO Award

Paul Horovitz, head of the Buckley School in Sherman Oaks, doesn’t want students to think about music, art or drama--he’d rather the arts came as naturally to the students as language.

Matt McKagan, band director at Lindero Canyon Middle School in Agoura Hills, lives for the moment when a student takes pride in mastering a particular note or song.

The philosophies of the Buckley School and McKagan helped the Valley claim two of the three 1998-99 BRAVO awards, which honor innovation and creativity in arts education, and were administered by the Music Center of Los Angeles County Monday night at the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles.

The other winner was Amy Ellison, a teacher at Ramona-Alessandro Elementary School in the San Bernardino City Unified School District.

“If I was told I had to cut out the fluff from curriculum, I wouldn’t cut out the arts,” Horovitz said before the awards ceremony, not knowing that his private school would win.

Buckley students, from preschool to the 12th grade, sing, dance, paint, sculpt and perform on stage.

McKagan, a teacher at Lindero Canyon for nine years, teaches all levels of band, including jazz before the school day begins.

Before the awards ceremony, McKagan described his philosophy in teaching music as instilling “in each and every child a sense of personal pride--a lifelong pursuit of self-improvement which will extend far beyond the music classroom.”

Principals, faculty and parents committees and superintendents nominated 53 teachers and 11 schools from 38 public school districts and private schools in Southern California. A committee of educators and artists selected 10 finalists, and a panel of judges visited the schools and teachers to make the final decision.

The Buckley School receives $2,500 for the award; each teacher receives $1,000. All winners also get a sculpture.