ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – The Grammy Awards are coming up in a couple of weeks on CBS, and one of the finalists for an award is from Central Florida.
Director of West Orange High School's choral activities Jeffery Redding is a top 10 finalist for the Grammy Educator Award. Freedom High School's band director, Michael Antmann, was also selected by the Grammy Museum and the Recording Academy as a 25 semifinalist.
The award was created to recognize current educators who have made a significant and lasting contribution to the field of music education.
"I'm in love with teaching, and that's my passion," Redding said.
For more than two decades, Redding has been impacting the lives of children through music.
"He's such a great man and pushes me to become a better person," senior choir student Jasmin Taylor said. "He has taught me the true meaning of music and love and compassion and hard work and I'm very thankful he's come into my life."
"For me personally, when I hear about his history and see all the things that he's done, it really humbles me and makes me recognize that I can do so much more with my life and it makes me realize I don't want to waste it," choir student Abigail Urton said.
Redding said in return, he also learns from his students.
"They push me to be the very best version of myself. Even though I may have taught two decades, I still feel like I have so much more to learn," Redding said. "Every kid I have is a new crop of learning and a new crop of learning how to serve them."
Born and raised in Orange County, Redding's focus is his community.
"You never forget where you come from. Now, my story is not over. You never know where I may end up, but this is home," he said. "This is where I choose to serve, and I want to give back to, not only my community, all the communities, because someone has always had a part in my success."
Redding has received numerous recognitions including Teacher of the Year and international choir director awards. He's conducted at Lincoln Center in New York and in Italy.
Come Feb. 10, he could be adding a Grammy to his trophy shelf. However, that's a perk Redding didn't consider when he started his education career.
"I don't teach to win awards. I teach because I love teaching, I love inspiring, I love giving," Redding said.
His biggest inspiration, he said, is his mother.
"She still is my hero and my everything, and she was wonderful at creating a motivating and inspiring environment when we did not have the best of money but we had the best of everything because we had each other."
Growing up, his family faced some hard times, but Redding said he felt rich because of how his mother taught his family. "How to love. How to support each other. How to protect each other. How to fight for each other."
"That taught me how to survive-never to become a victim," Redding said.
For Redding, winning a Grammy would be life-changing but he said, it would mean more to highlight his vision for West Orange High School.
"If this award reflects the passion and purpose of what we do, yes, we serve others, we give, so in terms of the personal emotional (impact) I'm more excited how it will affect everyone else and say: 'We can do it. All of us can,'" Redding said.