TOPEKA, Kan. (WIBW) – A local music teacher is set to perform on one of the nation’s biggest and longest stages, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, alongside 400 other music educators.

Meridith Neuer, a music teacher at Pauline South Intermediate School in Auburn-Washburn USD 437 tells 13 NEWS that she is set to march in the 2023 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade alongside the Band Directors Marching Band.

After the band’s inaugural appearance at the Rose Parade in 2022, the Saluting America’s Band Directors project announced it will again bring band directors across the nation to New York City on Nov. 23 with the theme “America’s band directors: We teach music. We teach life.”

Neuer said she was chosen to join the band of 400 directors to march in the annual parade as their entry will recognize the extraordinary dedication and accomplishments of band directors and music teachers everywhere.

Throughout their careers, Neuer said the music educators in the band have mentored and taught hundreds of thousands of students. They not only teach and direct music, they teach about life itself.

“Not only is this a huge honor to represent my hometown of Topeka where I grew up, but it is also a great opportunity for my students to witness one of the many amazing possibilities there are as a musician,” Neuer said.

Neuer noted that the band will be directed by nationally renowned music educator and innovative director Jon Waters. The organization has been sponsored by the Michael D. Sewell Foundation, which was created to honor the late Mike Sewell for his dedication to community music programs for nearly four decades.

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