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Members of the Pipestone Area Schools (PAS) Jazz Band perform during the grades five to 12 Spring Band Concert, Sunday afternoon, May 18 at the PAS auditorium. The concert included music by the fifth grade band, sixth grade band, jazz band, community band, junior high band and high school symphonic band, as well as the induction of Reggie Gorter into the Instrumental Music Hall of Fame and the announcement that the school district had earned a 2025 Best Communities for Music Education Award. Photo by Kyle Kuphal
Pipestone Area Schools (PAS) Director of Bands Dr. Zachary Ploeger announced during the grades five to 12 Spring Band Concert on Sunday, May 18 that PAS has received a 2025 Best Communities for Music Education Award from the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) Foundation.
“It’s one of the highest honors that a school district and community can receive and our band program is a huge reason why we earned this award,” Ploeger said. “They take into consideration — the judges of this — the quality of the students’ educational experience, the qualifications of the teachers, the number of opportunities students have to be a part of — and that counts regular band and it counts things like jazz band, drum line, marching band. It takes into account district and donor funding, facilities, and the number of students who participate in our program compared to the total number of students.”
He said the award belongs to the students, school district, administration, teachers, school board, parents and others who support the school district’s music programs.
The NAMM Foundation announced the awards earlier this month. According to the Foundation, the Best Communities for Music Education Award “recognizes and celebrates outstanding efforts by teachers, administrators, parents, students, and community leaders who have made music education part of a well-rounded education. Designations are made to districts and schools that demonstrate an exceptionally high commitment to and access to music education.”
The award was given to 935 school districts in the country this year, including nine in Minnesota. The other Minnesota school districts that received the award were Anoka-Hennepin School District, Edina Public Schools, Independent School District 518 in Worthington, Minnetonka Public Schools, Mounds View Public Schools, Saint Paul Public Schools, Springfield Public Schools and Ulen-Hitterdal Public Schools. Recipients are selected through an application and review process.
Reggie Gorter speaks to the crowd during her induction into the Pipestone Area Schools (PAS) Instrumental Music Hall of Fame at the grades five to 12 Spring Band Concert, Sunday afternoon, May 18 at the PAS auditorium. The concert also included the announcement that the school district had earned a 2025 Best Communities for Music Education Award. Photo by Kyle Kuphal
The band concert also included the induction of Reggie Gorter into the PAS Instrumental Musical Hall of Fame. Gorter thanked those who nominated her and selected her for the hall of fame. She spoke of the legacy left by those who have previously been inducted into the hall of fame and the impact they’ve had on many people, including herself, and said that her parents — Ron and Cathy Moffitt — have been the most musically influential people in her life.
“Parents, you are powerful,” Gorter said. “Please know that. We always had music in our house growing up. I don’t really know anything different. It was always just part of our lives, and thank you.”
She also shared some of the local groups that provide opportunities for people to be involved in music including the Al Opland Singers, community band — Sound of the Stone, Calumet Players, Calumet Children’s Theater, Arts and Mentoring Project, Pipestone Performing Arts Center, churches and PAS.
The spring concert included music by the fifth grade band, sixth grade band, jazz band, junior high band, high school symphonic band, and Sound of the Stone.