LPS honored for noteworthy contributions to All-State music event

December 10, 2025

Lincoln Public Schools employees received a note of encouragement this fall when they were honored for helping students play sweet sounds at a state music convention.
 
The Nebraska Music Education Association (NMEA) presented the LPS Music Department with the Bryan R. Johnson Distinguished Service Award. The NMEA gives special recognition each year to individuals or groups who have made outstanding contributions to the music profession in Nebraska. LPS received the award this fall for providing music instruments and equipment for the NMEA Conference/In-Service Clinic on an annual basis.
 
“The LPS Music Department and the Nebraska Music Education Association share a deeply valued and longstanding partnership,” NMEA President Debbie Martinez said. “In recognition of the extraordinary support the LPS Music Department provides in ensuring the annual NMEA Conference is a success, the NMEA board is proud to present them with the Bryan R. Johnson Distinguished Service Award.”
 
NMEA Executive Director Cheyenne Grannan and NMEA Immediate Past President Clay Blackman said many All-State musicians and their families have benefited from the annual LPS contributions. All-State orchestra, choir, concert band and jazz band ensembles use the instruments for their public concerts at the Lied Center for the Performing Arts.
 
Groups from many Nebraska schools also perform at the NMEA event. More than 2,000 K-12 students, music educators, college students and music exhibitors gathered in Lincoln this fall for concerts, clinics and networking opportunities.
 
“The Lincoln Public Schools should be lauded for their willingness to help the Nebraska Music Education Association, which in turn, helps every All-State student, parent and teacher,” Blackman said. “For that reason, NMEA was more than happy to award them the Bryan R. Johnson Distinguished Service Award.”

“Their staff is consistently responsive and flexible, ensuring that our event operates smoothly,” Grannan said. “They also go above and beyond, taking extra measures to verify that any equipment they provide is in the best condition possible. Without this partnership, we would not be able to hold our concert hours, which showcased 18 different student ensembles during the conference.”

 
Amy Holloman is the LPS supervisor of music and Amy Thorpe is the LPS music coordinator. Both gave a large amount of credit to the LPS Distribution Center team for transporting items to and from the downtown conference sites. LPS Distribution Center Warehouse Supervisor Brian Kailing and fellow employees spent multiple hours planning logistics, delivering items before the convention and picking up instruments and equipment after the final All-State concert.
 
“Our music department works often and closely with distribution on a regular basis,” Holloman said. “Brian Kailing and his department are always wonderful to work with and have been flexible in times where we needed to pivot for pickup/delivery based on something beyond our control. We are incredibly grateful for the wonderful relationship we have with our colleagues at distribution!”
 
“We were incredibly humbled to be honored and grateful to have such a fantastic LPS Distribution Department that transports equipment across our district,” Thorpe said. “They are an incredibly hardworking team, and we are so glad that they were recognized for the outstanding service they continue to provide.”
 
Kailing said the distribution team enjoys helping the NMEA Conference run smoothly. LPS employees transported a marimba, xylophone, bass drum, glockenspiel, tam tams, chimes and a set of timpani for All-State musicians to use this year. A large portion of the convention took place at the Lied Center for Performing Arts and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Westbrook Music Building.
 
“We are just a small part of the puzzle for this event,” Kailing said. “Even though we are not in the classrooms, we take pride in knowing that we contribute to the overall success of the students and staff of LPS.”
 
Music and distribution employees begin planning their transportation strategy in early October each year. LPS high schools share instruments for the conference on a rotating basis, and it was East High School’s turn to provide items for the 2025 event. Holloman, Thorpe and Kailing determined how best to move instruments out of East’s building, which route to use to go downtown and when and where the NMEA would like instruments to be dropped off.
 
NMEA leaders provide a final list of needed instruments to LPS one week prior to the convention each fall. The All-State inventory can vary from year to year. Kailing said his team fit all of the 2025 items into one truck, which helped workers navigate construction by the UNL Glenn Korff School of Music more easily. LPS delivered two trucks' worth of equipment to the NMEA for last year’s conference.
 
Thorpe said teamwork is a vital component of the delivery and pickup process. Phone calls, e-mail messages and face-to-face meetings allow everyone to finalize important details each year.
 
“With so many involved, a positive working relationship and strong communication are essential,” Thorpe said.

 
Martinez said that helpful attitude was on full display during the past two years of construction at UNL. She praised the LPS team’s “consistent and exceptional willingness” to provide NMEA with instruments and equipment for the conference.
 
“During the period when construction required NMEA to relocate to other venues without essential resources, the LPS Music Department demonstrated exemplary teamwork,” Martinez said. “They transformed what could have been a debilitating logistical problem – far surpassing the routine movement of equipment – into a manageable operation through creative and shared solutions.”

Grannan said it is important to recognize these types of behind-the-scenes efforts. She said the timely delivery of percussion equipment and other essential gear ensures that each venue is ready to go for students, teachers and audiences.

“These logistical contributions often happen out of sight, yet they make every onstage moment possible,” Grannan said. “Honoring this work underscores how vital LPS’ support is to producing rehearsals, concerts and a positive experience for students and directors at this event that brings together people from across our state.”
 
Holloman said it is rewarding to know that LPS employees are giving students a chance to record pitch-perfect All-State moments every year.
 
“We have continued to provide instruments and equipment to help ensure LPS and Nebraska All-State students have access to what they need for a successful performing experience,” Holloman said.
 
LPS music teachers and administrators are helping students compose many sweet-sounding achievements in practices, concerts and performances. Visit our website at home.lps.org/music to learn more about our music curriculum. 
 
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