Mankato East’s Andrea Brinkman-Waterbury selected NFHS Section 5 Music Educator of the Year
Mankato East’s Andrea Brinkman-Waterbury was named the recipient of the prestigious 2024-2025 NFHS Outstanding Music Educator of the Year Award for Section 5, a group of states that include Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas and Missouri.
She will be publicly recognized on Saturday, March 22 during halftime of the Class AA championship game of the Minnesota State High School League’s Boys Basketball State Tournament at Williams Arena on the University of Minnesota campus.
In December, she was selected the NFHS Outstanding Music Educator for Minnesota. As the Section 5 recipient, Brinkman-Waterbury is eligible to be recognized with the NFHS National Music Citation Award in 2026.
Brinkman-Waterbury, a 1998 graduate of Grand Forks (ND) Central High School, is in her 22nd year as a music educator. Through music-centered education, Brinkman-Waterbury has guided students through growth, awareness and enriching opportunities. She has led League contest-winning choirs, guided her music groups on European tours and created an inclusive curriculum for teaching Unified Music.
After graduating from Minnesota-Duluth in 2001 with a degree in Vocal Music Education and a concentration in Piano, Brinkman-Waterbury began her teaching journey in the Mountain Lake school district before transitioning to Mankato East in 2017. Along the way, she has served as a guest conductor in the Ambassadors of Music program, a Bemidji State MusiCam clinician and an active member of the Minnesota Music Educators Association and the American Choral Directors Association. She is also a League adjudicator.