North Moore High School band director Nicki Nall Garner received the North Carolina Symphony Musicians Award, the Sandhills Sentinel reported. The award recognizes emerging music educators with fewer than 10 years of teaching experience.
Garner is in her ninth year in public education and is the first woman to lead a high school band in Moore County, according to the symphony. She served in the Marine Corps from 2008 to 2012 with the Albany Marine Band and later earned a bachelor's degree in music education from the University of North Carolina at Pembroke.
Before returning to the community where she attended school, Garner taught in Colorado and Harnett County, North Carolina. The symphony credited her with helping preserve one high school marching program and expanding another program's membership, musicianship and student leadership.
At North Moore, her ensembles have received consecutive superior ratings and other honors. West Pine Elementary School music teacher Luke Arno received an honorable mention in the statewide recognition program.
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