NATCHEZ &045; Bobbye Wynn’s class at West Primary School is a cross of P.E. and language arts, but she’s the music teacher.

Course integration is a key to education, Wynn said, especially with a room full of active kindergartners.

&uot;I love this age group,&uot; she said. &uot;They aren’t scared to try anything. If you can teach them to love music at this age you stand a better chance of getting them for life.&uot;

It’s that attitude and years of experience in the local schools and service on state arts boards that earned Wynn a statewide award over the summer.

She was chosen as the state’s only Thad Cochran Distinguished Arts Educator in music.

Seven other teachers received the title in their area of expertise &045; visual, higher education, etc.

Wynn has been teaching in the Natchez-Adams schools since 1984. With a degree in education and a certification in music, Wynn spent three years in Natchez as a sixth-grade classroom teacher.

She’s taught music to children from pre-kindergarten to sixth-grade and worked at three Natchez schools, West since 1990.

&uot;I still love doing what I’m doing,&uot; she said. &uot;It’s a fun place here, high energy.&uot;

Wynn has coordinated numerous musicals in the past and plans to do four this year.

&uot;I try to make it very fun and very educational,&uot; she said.

Thursday’s lesson integrated memory recall with fun, active songs.

&uot;This age is going to be active,&uot; she said. &uot;You might as well use it to your advantage.

&uot;Music is one of the first to go when there’s a budget crunch. But if you do the same thing in music as in a classroom, it makes you more valuable.&uot;

Wynn is also responsible for starting the state’s All-Star Elementary Honor Choir in 1993.

Though she’s given up the reins since then, the choir is still up and running.

Outside of West, Wynn leads the fourth-, fifth- and sixth-grade choir at First Baptist Church.

&uot;She’s truly devoted to her profession and the community as well as the school,&uot; West Principal Cindy Idom said.