It’s lunchtime at Nepean High School and music teacher Jeannie Hunter walks onto the stage to rehearse with her clarinet choir. A small group of students assemble in a semicircle, pick up their instruments and start to play.
Ms. Hunter, as the kids know her, is not just any music teacher; she’s a Juno award-winning educator who was presented with the 2025 MusiCounts Teacher of the Year award in Vancouver in late March.
Now back in the music room where she is inspiring teenagers through the art form, Hunter admits she’s still in shock over the national recognition.
“There is definitely a mixture of disbelief because you hope to win. But it was a great teachable moment leading up to the awards because whether I was granted the recognition or not, nothing about what I have done or will do changes really, right? It was just such an honour to be recognized with such a great group of educators,” Hunter told the Kitchissippi Times.
While Hunter has taught at Nepean High School since 2019, she’s been in the classroom for over 30 years.
The road to winning a Juno actually began when Hunter was a teacher at both Hillcrest and Brookfield High Schools — where she both times received a Music Counts Grant. In 2009 she was nominated the first time but lost.
What made the nomination even more meaningful this time, Hunter says, was the fact it was the first time the award was handed out on stage during the live television broadcast. In the past, it was done either at the gala beforehand or during a ceremony at the winning high school.
Hunter had to chance to hang out with one of Canada’s greatest performers
The entire experience was a Hollywood moment. The day before the ceremony, Hunter and the four other Canadian educators nominated had the chance to watch a soundcheck in the Vancouver Rogers arena.
Just that in itself was a cool enough experience, she said, but was topped later when Michael Bublé walked out to his famous “Haven’t Met You Yet” song.
Hunter and Bublé met again the next day when the Canadian singer presented Hunter with the award.
“He was super kind. He told us that night that the reason he wanted to present that award with his wife is because to him it was the most important award. That was just really validating and amazing,” she said.
Hunter wrote out her acceptance speech beforehand on her phone, but when she realized everyone else would be reading off a paper, she had her sister scribble it on a piece of ripped stationary from the hotel. The Nepean teacher’s hands were too shaky to write it herself.
Being onstage was a daunting experience. Hunter was in front of over 20,000 people in the audience and over 2.5 million viewers watching at home.
“I was overwhelmed and I was terrified. I had this moment where I thought, what if they start to play the music and I have to leave the stage and I haven’t said what I came here to say? I just had to take a deep breath,” said Hunter. “Michael Bublé was going ‘Do you want me to hold that for you? I’ll just be your holder; I’ll hold everything.’ I’m glad he did that because the Juno is about 15 pounds. I couldn’t really manage it with a microphone and hold onto the speech at the same time.”
Back in Ottawa, students held watch parties and filed their reactions to Hunter winning. She also received dozens of photos taken of people’s television screens, and had heard from countless people she’s crossed paths with, including her grade 7 music teacher.
At Nepean, the halls were filled with excitement. Grade 11 student Joshua Wong said he couldn’t think of anyone more deserving. The clarinet player struggled with music through middle school but found his footing thanks to the support of Hunter.
“She’s the best music teacher I’ve ever had. She pushes students to go past their boundaries. She pushed me to find my own identity as well, something many high schoolers struggle with,” said Wong. “Ms. Hunter helped me decide that I wanted to go into music in the future. I may have not chosen to do that at the beginning because I felt as though it wasn’t for me.”
Grade 11 student Liam West agrees. He first became inspired by his older twin sisters who took music at Nepean. It was Ms. Hunter who encouraged him to take it a step further.
“She’s very supportive and if you ever need any help, she’s very accommodative and is definitely going to do everything she can to help you. Even when I was first starting out she got other students in to help tutor because she wasn’t as familiar with the base,” he said.
Music should be accessible to everyone, says Hunter
Hunter’s passion for music began in the small rural community where she grew up.
“In grade 6 they came and said, here’s a random test. If you pass the test, you can go do music in town twice a week in grades 7 and 8. But there was a commitment to do the whole thing,” she recalled.
The rest was history. Hunter, who feels music should be available to everyone regardless of test scores, kept at it and in grade 9 began conducting at a summer music camp.
You can’t tell today, but Hunter says she started as the shyest kid in the group. It was music that broke her out of that shell.
“Music is everything and music is magic. I’ve taught students that were nonverbal and became able to speak because of the way music builds pathways in your brain,” said Hunter. “I’ve watched kids build community, find a safe place to be. But I also believe that being involved in making music with other people actually produces more creative and collaborative problem solvers. It engages so many different parts of your brain and builds pathways between them that make information travel differently.”