North Hills Superintendent, Teachers Honored For Music Excellence

ROSS TOWNSHIP, PA - North Hills School District superintendent Patrick Mannarino and music teachers Len Lavelle and Chris Ballentine have received Pennsylvania’s highest scholastic awards. The trio were recognized for their contributions to music education recently at the 2018 Pennsylvania Music Educators Association annual conference.

Mannarino was named outstanding superintendent, given annually to the chief school administrator who recognizes the importance of music and arts in their school district’s curriculum.

Lavelle, the high school director of bands and orchestras, was one of just a dozen educators across the state to be given a citation of excellence for making lasting contributions in their area of teaching. Ballentine, a secondary schools music teacher, was named outstanding young music educator, given to music teachers who make outstanding contributions during the first three to five years of their career.

In addition to the trio winning awards, North Hills High School’s wind ensemble was selected out of hundreds of high school music groups in Pennsylvania to perform at the PMEA conference this past weekend. The honor marks the seventh time in the past eight years that the district’s premier ensemble has been selected to perform at the state-level PMEA event or at a NafME All-East Convention.

The high school’s wind ensemble consists of 51 musicians in grades 9 to 12. All ensemble members are selected through an audition process.

Photo via North Hills School District.