Entertainment
2026 Grammy Music Educator Award honoree strikes a chord with band class: “She lets us tell everyone our story with music”
Jennifer Jimenez, a longtime band director at a Miami high school, has been named the winner of the 2026 Music Educator Award, “CBS Mornings” revealed on Thursday.
This year’s honoree of the Recording Academy and Grammy Museum’s annual award celebrating American music teachers goes beyond teaching music, emphasizing the hard work, teamwork, and respect that shape every musical performance.
“There’s the joke about there being no I in team; there’s no I in band either,” Jimenez, who has served as South Miami Senior High School’s band director for nearly two decades, told “CBS Mornings.”
Life lessons in band class
Jimenez jokes that giving her students the freedom to choose their own music “is like revolutionary” in the world of band. But that’s not necessarily the first thing students mention when they praise their band teacher.
“She lets us tell everyone our story with music,” student Alisson Martinez said.
Izabella Tapanes says Jimenez sees potential in everyone and encourages students to excel daily.
“Band is a lot of mindset, right?” Tapanes said. “Everybody in this band has the mindset of, okay, today we’re gonna make one thing better.”
Jimenez’s students say the band room has become a safe space for them – one former student even says it changed his future.
“If it wasn’t because of music, I would’ve probably dropped out,” said Mario Portela Pardo, Jimenez’s former student.
Portela Pardo says Jimenez’s tough love motivated him to focus. “She helped me realize that life is about figuring out what you want and then finding a way there.”
Portela Pardo followed in Jimenez’s footsteps and is now a band director who thinks of students beyond the part they play in the band.
“It’s blending the ability to care about the individual,” Portela Pardo said. “Not only how they’re doing in school, but how are they doing as a person.”
Music opens doors
Jimenez’s parents chose to bring a piano home when she was 6 years old.
“We didn’t have cable, like we just couldn’t afford it. So I played piano,” Jimenez said.
“And that just opened up a whole world for me.”
Now, Jimenez is exposing hundreds of students to a world where excellence is a choice.
“If you’re here and you’re doing it, do it well,” Jimenez advised. “You might not have natural talent, but you can choose to do the work. And they choose it every day. And that’s, you know, the results.”
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)’s perseverance rover has successfully completed its first artificial intelligence (AI) driven drive on another planet.
The perseverance used an AI model, Claude, developed by Anthropic, to design a 400-meter safe route across the rocky terrain of Jezero Carter. The plan was executed on December 8 and 10, 2025.
Previously, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) performed this manually.
As Mars is, on average, 140 million miles away from Earth, it creates a communication delay of about 20 minutes, which makes it unable to drive rovers in real-time.
Instead of it, operators meticulously plan a series of way points also known as “breadcrumb trail” with the help of orbital images and rover data, which the rover then follows autonomously between points.
For this test, engineers gave Claude years of mission data in context.
The AI system analysed high-resolution orbital imagery, detected dangers such as boulder fields and sand ripples, and produced a continuous path.
It even produced the commands in the rover’s specialised programming language.
Before application, JPL engineers verified it via standard verification simulation, checking over 500,000 variables.
One minor adjustment was needed after tests. Resultantly, perseverance drove 689 ft and then 807 ft on the two sols (Marian days), completing the AI-planned route without issue.
Just in time for love filled February moments, Meghan Markle has unveiled a special limited edition chocolate collection through her lifestyle brand As Ever on Saturday.
The new As Ever x Compartés Valentine’s Day box brings together gourmet flavours and beautifully designed packaging.
“Our Valentine’s Day As ever x @compartes collection is here!” she wrote.
Created in collaboration with Los Angeles luxury chocolatier Compartés, the collection features four handcrafted bars.
Think rich Strawberry Spread Dark Chocolate, Raspberry Spread Dark Chocolate, White Chocolate with Flower Sprinkles and Milk Chocolate with Shortbread Cookies and Bee Pollen, all wrapped in cheerful floral-inspired boxes.
The duo’s holiday chocolate trio in 2025 flew off shelves in record time, selling out in under an hour and fans are already anticipating another quick disappearance this season too, especially with Valentine’s Day just around the corner.
It first started with small-batch spreads, teas, baking mixes and sweet treats, and has expanded into wines, candles and now premium chocolates.
In fact, the brand’s name, As Ever, represents her desire to build something timeless and warm that feels like home.
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