Teachers and administrators who empower students to be creative and work toward unlocking their potential through arts education will be honored at the 2025 Orange County Music and Arts Administrators — or OCMAA — Awards Ceremony on Feb. 12.
The reception and awards ceremony will take place at the Samueli Theater at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts, with the reception starting at 4:30 p.m. and the awards presentation to follow at 5:45 p.m. Educators, students and those who support the arts can register online to attend the event. Although attendance is free, seating is limited.
For more than 30 years, Orange County Music and Arts Administrators, in partnership with the Segerstrom Center for the Arts, have presented the Orange County Music and Arts Educators Awards.
This annual event recognizes exceptional leadership and arts instruction within each of the five arts disciplines for individual elementary and secondary educators. Additionally, it honors supportive administrators and community arts advocates.
Founded by the Orange County Department of Education, OCMAA stands as an active coalition of school districts, community arts organizations, parents and business leaders. Together, they collaborate to ensure a high-quality, inclusive, accessible and equitable arts education for every child.
This year, the coalition selected 63 nominees to be recognized at the event.
“The Orange County Music and Arts Awards is the premier recognition for Orange County’s outstanding arts educators and is highly regarded within the community for its recognition of quality instructional service,” Scott Fitzpatrick, OCDE’s arts coordinator, said. “Thanks to the additional sponsorship of multiple other arts organizations, we are grateful to announce that this special event will be free of charge to all attendees.”
Fitzpatrick expressed pride in presenting the upcoming ceremony, which is made possible through the support of an expanding roster of sponsors, including The Segerstrom Center for the Arts, The Wooden Floor, The Philharmonic Society of Orange County and others.
For those unable to attend the ceremony, here’s the full list of the 2025 Orange County Music and Arts Award recipients:
- Oscar Gonzalez, Anaheim Union High School District – Secondary Dance
- James Raneri, Santa Ana Unified School District – Elementary Instrumental Music
- Dan Robbins, Saddleback Valley Unified School District – Secondary Instrumental Music
- Lindsie Hardy, Santa Ana Unified School District – Elementary Vocal Music
- Adrian Rangel-Sanchez, Irvine Unified School District – Secondary Vocal Music
- Sarah Winant, Santa Ana Unified School District – Elementary Theater
- Rich Marting, Santa Ana Unified School District – Secondary Theater
- Renee Weitzel, Capistrano Unified School District – Elementary Visual Art
- Rick Blake, Orange Unified School District – Secondary Visual Art
- Gigi Manning, Tustin Unified School District – Secondary Media Arts
- Brenda Fausto, Santa Ana Unified School District – Arts in Special Education
- Amy Emerzian, Garden Grove Unified School District – Juliana McGrath Elementary Classroom
- Na-Young Shin, Garden Grove Unified School District – Teacher on Special Assignment
- Hek Valdez, Huntington Beach Union High School District – Arts Advocate
- Tustin Area Council of Fine Arts, Tustin Unified School District – Arts Community Partnership Award
- Kimberly Snowden, Irvine Unified School District – School Site Administrator
- Joe Carmona, Anaheim Union High School District – District Administrator
- Frank Donavan, Ed.D., Magnolia School District – District Administrator
- Joslynne Blasdel, Irvine Unified School District – Irene Schoepfle Lifetime Achievement Award for Music
- Tim Nelson, Huntington Beach Union High School District – Jim Thomas Exemplary Achievement Award for Theatre
For questions about Orange County Music and Arts Administrators, contact OCDE Coordinator Scott Fitzpatrick at stfitzpatrick@ocde.us.