The Grammy goes to . . .

South Side High School has yet another thing to brag about: a Grammy nominee is teaching music there.

Dr. Doreen Fryling was recently named one of 25 semifinalists for the Grammy Music Educator Award. The 25 were selected from 213 quarterfinalists, which were themselves drawn from a pool of more than 4,500 applications from across the country.

“It’s a remarkable recognition,” Fryling said. “Teachers often don’t get recognized. Sometimes students and parents say thanks. [The award] is kind of an over-the-top way to be recognized.”

Fryling has been teaching music for 20 years. She spent five years at an elementary school in Ann Arbor, Mich., before coming to Rockville Centre, where she has taught at schools across the district. She now works full-time at South Side High.

She was nominated for the award by a student who saw an ad for it on TV. Fryling didn’t find out about it until she got an email from the Grammy Foundation last spring, asking her for more information about herself.

The initial applications were scored, and Fryling was named one of the quarterfinalists. For the semifinal round, she had to write essays or submit video clips, so she recorded a portion of a class and did a video essay. And the student who nominated her got more students together and recorded a video on her behalf.

The Grammy Foundation focuses on making a difference in peoples’ lives through music, and honoring teachers who contribute to music education.

Ten finalists for the award, and the winner, will be announced on Dec. 1. The winner will be flown to Los Angeles to attend the Grammy Awards, and will receive a $10,000 honorarium. The other nine finalists will receive $1,000 honorariums. Their schools will receive matching grants.

Fryling said her family was excited to learn that she was a semifinalist. The news came just a week after she completed work on her doctorate in education in learning and teaching at Hofstra University, where her husband, David, is the director of choirs.

Her students are also excited about her nomination. “It elevates them as well,” she said.

Fryling is happy to have made it this far, but she is hoping to go even farther. “That would be a great thing for our school district,” she said.