A South Florida music teacher is being nationally recognized by the National Academy of Recording Arts Sciences for a second year in a row. Jennifer Jimenez, a teacher at South Miami Senior High School, has been nominated for the Grammy Music Educator Award, one of the music industry’s most pr estigious awards. She has been teaching at South Miami for 17 years. 7News got an inside look at one of her music classes, and it’s easy to figure out why she would be nominated. “It’s way better soft-wise, but it cannot drag,” Jimenez said to her students. She doesn’t jazz around or miss a beat. “Keep it pushing forward. One more time,” the teacher said during class instruction. Inside the band room, Jimenez fine-tunes her student musicians until the percussion is perfect, the drum is on beat, and every student is in harmony. “Last note,” the Grammy-nominated teacher said during practice. “OK, so in the end, make sure you’re releasing those notes.” Her attention to detail is exactly why this South Miami Senior High School teacher is being recognized on a national stage. “They want to see how you are, how your students are in class, how they respond to you,” said Jimenez. For the second year in a row, Jimenez has been nominated for the Grammy Music Educator Award. Out of more than 2,000 nominees, just 10 finalists remain. This is also the second time Jimenez has made the final 10. “Getting jobs, keeping jobs, developing those teamwork skills and those soft skills that employers look for — Music does all of that, and it’s one of the main vehicles that students can learn those skills,” she later told 7News. What makes Jimenez’s teaching award worthy is that she listens with a keen ear, not just to the notes played but to the musicians behind the instruments. Alisson Martinez, a senior at South Miami Senior High, plays the flute and the piccolo and has been in band all four years under Jimenez. “I would consider her my second mother,” she said. Izabella Tapanes, another senior at South Miami Senior High, plays the clarinet. She is also the woodwind captain and one of Jimenez’s assistants. “Every student has a different way of speaking, a different way of dressing, of being — just being,” said Tapanes. “And she is so very welcoming.” And if the Grammys decided the winner by student feedback alone, they’d award her the gold trophy in a beat. “Obviously, it’s super rewarding for her, but it’s super rewarding for us as well, because she does so much,” Tapanes said. “So I hope she actually gets to go and be there, and we’ll be supporting her just like she supports us,” Martinez said. Despite the national recognition, Jimenez said the nomination is not about her, it’s about shining a spotlight on her students and community. “I would love nothing more than to have Miami-Dade County Public Schools, the City of Miami, our community, and our students be elevated to a national level. I think that’s the focus, and that’s the goal,” Jimenez said. Jimenez hopes to hit all the right notes and take home the Grammy award in February. She said the winner will be notified privately in January before traveling to Los Angeles for the ceremony. ...read more read less