Lilly Fellowship

Greencastle Community Schools music educator, Jill Dombrowski recently received a $10,000 Eli Lilly Endowment Creativity Fellowship. This special grant is awarded to teachers, librarians and administrators annually across the state. The purpose of this fellowship, funded by the Lilly Endowment Fund, is to encourage and support renewal of teacher creativity. Dombrowski's grant proposal centered around immersing herself in the musical approach known as Orff-Schulwerk. Dombrowski was first exposed to the creative teaching ideas of composer and musical educator, Carl Orff, while studying for a semester in Bath, England, as an undergraduate. She went on to receive two levels of Orff Certification 25 years ago, while still living in the Chicago area. This special grant will allow Dombrowski to take further training in the area of Orff-Schulwerk as well as to purchase some new Orff instruments for Deer Meadow and Ridpath Primary Schools, where she teaches. In addition, she plans to visit Diessen am Amersee, Germany, to visit the home and studio of Carl Orff as well as the Orff Institute in Salzburg, Austria. As a way of "paying forward" the generosity of this grant, Dombrowski will also be offering a series of free music workshops for young children in the community this summer. Taking part in the celebration of the award were some of her students (top, from left) Carson Whited, Neva Brown, Kallie Pastore, Laurel Brown, (front row, left) Stephen Dombrowski, Quinton Seaver and Dylan Archer.