"Erin Johnson sang her way to the top Thursday night and became the Prescott 2014 Idol in the grand finale of summer-long competition at the Yavapai College Performing Arts Center," writes Karen Despain in today's The Daily Courier.

The 2003 DePauw University School of Music graduate teaches choir and guitar at Mile High Middle School and Granite Mountain Middle School in Arizona.

"In general, I am a musician," Johnson said in The Courier. "I love all music, and I try to to teach my kids to experience as much music as they can — all realms. That's what it's all about."

Adam Hilkert '08, a Tiger Pep Band Director Emeritus, has been selected to become one of just 22 conductors of the U.S. Army Bands after highly competitive national auditions.

"This is a great honor and privilege for which I am very grateful to have earned the opportunity," says Hilkert on Facebook today.

The U.S. Army Bands invited Hilkert to participate in the grueling two-day audition process. Candidates perform with their primary instrument two works in contrasting styles, followed by music theory examinations. Then they conduct nine works for concert band and the Soldier's Chorus. Finally, they are interviewed by a panel of senior officers and noncommissioned officers.

"This is a teacher who rushed to the hospital to be by the side of a student giving birth. This is a teacher who encouraged a student to keep up with schoolwork when he was in juvenile jail. This is a teacher who brought homework to a student recovering from being shot," writes Stephanie Wang in today's Indy Star.

That teacher is Tina Ahlgren '05, who once played clarinet in the DePauw University Band and the Tiger Pep Band, and has been named Indianapolis Public Schools teacher of the year at a recent school assembly.

Dr. Sarah Mordan-McCombs '03 was awarded the the Faculty Excellence in Teaching Award at Franklin College today during the college's commencement exercises in Indiana.

"Whenever a student comes along who is genuinely excited about learning, it’s invigorating as a professor," Mordan-McCombs says in a forthcoming profile of her work as a professor and cancer researcher at the college. "It reminds me why I was so excited to be a teacher in the first place."

"The award is given to a faculty member who exhibits excellence in mastery of subject and works well with students," notes the Johnson County Daily Journal.

"As many people in the past have said, they're heavy!" says Dr. Alex McAdams '06 of the Academy Award he and his team won for Disney's blockbuster movie, Frozen.

The Tiger Pep Band Director Emeritus is a senior software engineer at Walt Disney Animation Studios.

"On Sunday, Frozen beat out stiff competition to take home the Oscar for Best Animated Feature," reports Jeff Peterson at the Deseret News. "Its win marks Disney Animation Studios’ first-ever trophy in the relatively young category after six previous nominations in the 13 years since animated features were first recognized in a separate category."