Accessible Arts, Inc. (AAI) and the Kansas State Board of Education (KSBE) collaborate each year to recognize the valuable work of people who include Kansas children with disabilities in art experiences. To honor these individuals, AAI and KSBE established two awards in 1983, one for Distinguished Service in Arts and Disabilities and one for the Kansas Educator of the Year in Arts and Disabilities. On March 9th, in a ceremony at the Kansas State School for the Blind, the following individuals were honored for demonstrating excellence in service (through the arts) to children with and without disabilities.

The 2004 Distinguished Service Award was presented to Barry Bernstein. What started with pots and pans in the family kitchen has evolved into a passion for "Bongo" Barry Bernstein, MT-BC.
A registered music therapist, Bernstein is a wealth of knowledge about the healing and motivational power of rhythm. As a music therapist he has developed programs and presented papers on the use of music therapy to treat mental and physical disorders including Alzheimer's & Parkin-son's Disease, Attention Deficit Disorders, Autism, William's Syndrome and Stroke Rehabilitation.

A graduate of the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas, Bernstein was affiliated with Geriatric Services in San Francisco, California, and Colmery O'Neill Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Topeka, Kansas prior to relocating in his hometown of Kansas City. He is the founder of Healthy Sounds, a consulting service dedicated to spreading the word about the power of music and rhythm. For the past ten years he has served as Music Therapy consultant for the Blue Valley School District in Overland Park, Kansas. Other involvement with youth includes: an interactive school assembly, Unity With A Beat!, which has been featured in elementary schools from coast to coast, and at-risk youth projects through Accessible Arts and the Jackson County, Missouri Family Court.

Bernstein has also developed corporate wellness drumming programs for companies such as Sprint, Shell Oil, Bayer Agricultural, Novus and Monsanto.
In addition to his active international workshop schedule, Bernstein has released several recordings, including Spirals, Unwinding For Vitality and Health, (Relaxation Company), and Songs of the Spirit, Drone Tones and Remember Any Night, (Healthy Sounds).

Bernstein's work has been featured in many national publications including, Oprah, The New Your Times, U.S. New & World Report, Better Homes and Gardens, and Shape Magazine.
In 2003 he was the recipient of Drum Magazines "Drummie" for best national drum circle facilitator.

When he is not traveling around the world with his five trunks of percussion instruments, Bernstein enjoys a quiet family life with his wife, Laura, and their two young daughters, Leah and Sydney, who are beginning their musical careers in the very same place Bernstein began his - in the kitchen!

Anne Meeker Miller, Ph.D.was selected as the 2004 Educator of the Year. Dr. Miller, is a music therapist for the early childhood special education program of the Blue Valley School District in Overland Park, Kansas. During her career, she has taught music to students from preschool through college levels. She utilizes the intrinsically motivating power of music to engage students in their gross and fine motor development, pre-academic skills, socialization, and attention to task. Her preschool students were the inspiration for her work with sign language and music. She is also interested in fostering a love for books, and uses picture books in musical ways to help children with phonemic awareness, letter recognition, anticipating events, and looking for picture clues.

Through her company, Love Language™ LLC, Miller shows parents and caregivers how to encourage language development of young children by using music, play-based activities and picture books to teach baby sign language. She teaches Baby Sing & Sign™ classes at Shawnee Mission Medical Center, and the second edition of her book and music CD, Baby Sing & Sign™: A Play-filled Language Development Program for Hearing Infants and Toddlers, will be available in April from local booksellers and from her website, www.babysingandsign.com.

Miller piloted the music therapy program for the Olathe School District in 1980, and has advocated for the inclusion of special needs students in public school music programs throughout her career. She wrote and directed a musical revue called "Magic to Do" which integrated junior high students with disabilities and their peers, and she includes exceptional children in all of her ensembles.

Dr. Alice-Ann Darrow, Miller's former professor wrote, "Anne is an exceptional academic in the fields of music therapy and music education….Anne is probably THE most exceptional educator I know - in any discipline…. in her college teaching practicum….Her course preparations put some faculty to shame….what was most appealing was her generosity in sharing her materials with other [graduate students] and faculty without claiming ownership."

From the University of Kansas, Miller earned her Bachelor of Music Education and Music Therapy degrees, Master of Music Education degree with honors, and Doctorate of Philosophy in Music Education degree with honors. She received the Excellence in Teaching Award given by the Learning Exchange, Kansas City Chamber of Commerce and The Kansas City Star. She was also a commission member of the Housewright Symposium on the Future of Music Education sponsored by the Music Educators National Conference.