As Cumberland County’s newest teacher of the year, Amy Stovall of Gray’s Creek High School hopes to use the platform she’s been given to help spread awareness for arts education and the important role it can play in developing the total student.

Stovall, who teaches vocal music and choir at Gray’s Creek, was named the county’s teacher of the year at a banquet in mid-October.

A native of Louisiana, a connection with the military first brought her to Fayetteville.

After starting her education at Louisiana State and Austin Peay, she earned a bachelor of music education at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke and followed it up in 2014 with a master’s in the same field.

It was during her college years that she first felt a calling to become a teacher.

She grew up around music; she was the daughter of an Elvis impersonator who made money on the side during his college years with his act.

Stovall’s grandmother played piano, and Amy remembers taking piano lessons off and on from the time she was 8 years old.

She began teaching at Lumberton Junior High School, spent three years at Scotland High School and has been at Gray’s Creek for the past 10 years.

She’s mainly taught vocal music and choir. This year, she’s teaching advanced placement music theory for the first time. She also helps out with the school’s band and theater programs, working with the school’s theater teacher to put on a fullscale musical every spring.

Stovall admitted she was surprised when she learned she was a candidate for teacher of the year.

“A lot of the messages of congratulations that came to me were from fellow art educators who said, “We’re just so thrilled not just that you got it but that an arts educator got it,’’ she said.

She said it’s hard for people who don’t teach in the arts to understand or see that arts teachers have a detailed curriculum just like other academic teachers. “I think there’s a misconception that we sit in our classrooms in a circle and sing cute songs,’’ she said.

She fears many people see arts-oriented classes like hers as little more than places where the teachers are glorified babysitters.

She said that’s never been the perception of her peers of her classes at Gray’s Creek.

“I really feel like my kids get a pretty good education in history, in cultural awareness, mathematics and physics,’’ she said. “We talk about the properties of sound also. We put all those frames of reference into the lesson, into the things that we sing. We’re not just learning notes and rhythm.’’

In addition to learning, Stovall hopes the young people in her classes are also growing and expanding their minds in areas that will help them in whatever field they might try to pursue.

“This is going to translate into their adult life, when they’re working with people in the real-world settings,’’ she said. “It’s really important that these kids have their imaginations stirred.

“Their brains need time to imagine, create and play, otherwise we’re just spitting out kids who can pass tests. What are they going to do with that knowledge? If they aren’t imagining and creating now, when they are young, they are going to become scientists who don’t know how to invent anything.’’

That’s why Stovall feels an obligation to use the platform and voice she’s been given as teacher of the year, even if it’s just local, to speak out about the importance of music and arts education.

“We need equity in arts funding,’’ she said. “We need to protect our arts teachers’ jobs. Funding is a hard issue, and the arts are usually the first thing to get cut.’’

She fears cutting arts positions eliminates an essential piece of education for children. She hopes to use her voice to bring awareness to the importance of arts education, what its needs are and how it benefits students.

“To me, it’s important that I’m standing here being the voice of my fellow music and arts educators,’’ she said.

Photo: Amy Stovall (center) stands with husband Tommy (left) and Dr. Marvin Connelly Jr. (right), superintendent of Cumberland County Schools.