BLUE ISLAND, Ill. (WLS) — The Grammy Awards will be presented in Los Angeles this weekend, but first the Recording Academy will reveal the winner of the Music Educator of the Year award.
One of the finalists is Dr. Justin Antos, music teacher at Eisenhower High School in Blue Island. He’s been inspiring the love of music in his students for the past 17 years.
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“I’ve been blessed in the fact that I really, really love music and I get a chance to teach it every single day to kids who just mean the word to me,” he said.
Antos grew up in Oak Lawn. His farther was the principal at Brother Rice High School, and his mother was a teacher and Ukrainian immigrant. He and his wife Samantha have two sons who are already a lot like their father.
“Milo currently plays cello; he’s got a half-sized cello,” Antos said. “And Max, his 4-year-old brother, plays euphonium, like a little mini tuba.”
Antos and his program have earned many awards, including the Country Music Awards’ Music Teacher of Excellence honor just last year. This is his third nomination for a music educator Grammy.
“Grammy or not, I feel that what I have been able to accomplish with these students in this community is really something that means so much to me. I don’t need an award to feel the pride that I feel every day coming to work at something that I absolutely love to do,” he said.
Eisenhower has a very diverse student population, and Antos has started a popular Mariachi band there.
“There’s this rich cultural tradition right here in front of me and these students could be the ones to help me to discover this. I listen to Mariachi music all the time,” Antos said. “I don’t ever want my students skin tone or zip code to dictate anyone’s potential for success. I want everybody to realize that I don’t care where you come from that you are loved you are seen, you are heard. And we’re going to view you as somebody who can make our program better.”
“He just inspires me to be a better man overall,” said senior Francisco Garcia. “It gives us somebody to look up to. It gives us a reason to continue to follow our dreams.”
“I see him as a father figure,” said senior Shakira Johnson. “He could have had, like, a better opportunity somewhere else, but he stayed with us all this time and put all his best effort into us.”
Antos keeps his students motivated and focused on the beauty and magic of music.
“I want my students to know they have a gift,” he said. “They have something tangible that can make the world a better place. And so regardless of what their career path ends up being, they have something that they can contribute to the world.”
If Dr. Antos wins the Grammy, he gets $10,000 and a matching grant for the school music program. He’ll find out if he’s going to Los Angeles this week.
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