Arcadia High School teacher honored for music program

Submitted by the Scottsdale Unified School District.

Richard Maxwell, creator of the groundbreaking Contemporary Music and Sound program at Arcadia High School, has been selected as a quarterfinalist for the Music Educator Award presented by the Recording Academy and the Grammy Foundation.

Maxwell's program, known as CMAS, is unique to Arcadia and Scottsdale Unified School District, and as part of the career and technical education department functions largely as a full-scale record label, run entirely by the students.

"I am supremely humbled and honored to have been selected as a quarterfinalist by the Grammy Foundation," Maxwell said. "This is all really far more a testament to them, all my students over the years, and my own teachers, than it is to me."

According to the Grammy website, 222 music teachers from 208 cities across 41 states have been announced as quarterfinalists. More than 7,000 nominations were submitted from across 50 states.

"We are extremely honored that Richard has been chosen for consideration for this amazing award," said Superintendent David Peterson. "This is a great example of a teacher standing out to represent his school, learning community and district."

One winner will be selected from 10 finalists and receive a $10,000 honorarium. The nine finalists will each receive a $1,000 honorarium and the schools of all 10 finalists will receive matching grants.