Saratoga High School Teacher Named 'Music Educator of the Year'

Saratoga High School teacher Michael Boitz has been named Music Educator of the Year by the California Music Educators Association.

Boitz is the chairman of the Performing Arts Department at SHS and is in his 15th year of teaching instrumental music, according to his bio posted on the Saratoga Music Boosters website.

The SHS instrumental music ensembles have developed a reputation for excellence at the state, national and international level under the leadership of Boitz, according to the website.

He oversees the school's music department, involving more than 40 percent of the 1,300 students enrolled at Saratoga High, the website bio stated.

The SHS instrumental ensembles include three concert bands, two jazz bands, a percussion ensemble class, four string orchestras, two 100-member symphony orchestras and a 226-member competitive marching band.

Boitz has been presented with numerous awards in his career including the Teacher of the Year Award by the Los Gatos Saratoga Union High School District in 2000, the Gilbert T. Freitas Award for Excellence in Music Education at the California Music Educators Association Bay Section Conference in 2003 and the Richard L. Levin Orchestra Educator of the Year Award at the annual California Music Educators Association State Conference in 2007.

He's also been listed annually in the Who’s Who among Americas Teachers.

Boitz is a magna cum laud graduate of Concordia College, Moorhead, MN. He has completed his master's of arts degree in music education with a conducting emphasis from Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, where he continues to further his studies, his bio states.