Contact: Tammy Lane • First Posted: Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Orchestra director Nancy Campbell, who has been in Fayette County Public Schools since 1996, has been selected the KMEA Middle School Teacher of the Year.  

She will be honored Feb. 6 at the Kentucky Music Educators Association’s state conference in Louisville.

Campbell, who works at SCAPA Bluegrass and Picadome and Julius Marks elementaries, is an orchestra content specialist for the school district.

“I really want kids to come away with a love for music,” she said. “Whether they become professional musicians or put down their instruments when they go to college, I want them to have that appreciation and that love they can carry on their whole lives.”

Campbell grew up in Cherry Hill, N.J., and moved to Lexington in 1985. She earned a bachelor’s of music education at Northern Illinois University and a master’s in education from the University of Kentucky.

In addition to her FCPS responsibilities, she is orchestra chair for the Kentucky Music Educators Association, preparatory orchestra conductor for the Central Kentucky Youth Orchestra and a UK String Project mentor teacher.