Welcome
To the congratulations offered by those who have spoken before me, I add my most sincere kudos to you, Teachers of the Year, and Finalists. I am so privileged to share this evening with professionals such as you who have been singled out for your exemplary teaching, your leadership and your positive influence on both your schools and your communities.
Six years ago, I had the good fortune to work under now retired Community Relations Director, Laynee Timlin. I remember good-naturedly arguing with her about the meaning of Teacher of the Year. Having never been a teacher at that point, my position was that Teachers of the Year are the be-all and the end-all of teachers. The crème de la crème. Hers was that Teachers of the Year are representatives of all of the excellent teaching in our school system. I know now that I was wrong and she was, of course, exactly right. And the ironic thing is that being a representative of others is no less of an honor. It is, in fact, much more of one.
Dr. Merrill, Dr. Magula, administrators, Mr. Edwards and members of the school board, it is gratifying to be employed in a preeminent district that demands, supports and celebrates excellence in teaching to the extent that we do in Virginia Beach. As Teachers of the Year, we are grateful for the infrastructure, vision, and leadership you provide as we seek to serve students and families at ever higher levels, and we thank you for this memorable evening in recognition of our efforts.
To staff members in the Department of Media and Communications Development who plan and manage all of the myriad details of this event, especially director of community relations Melissa McQuarrie and assistant, Jody Blaufus, having worked in your department, I know the amount of effort that goes into making this night extra-special. Thank you for working tirelessly on our behalf.
And to our family members and other guests, I speak for all of the Teachers of the Year in thanking you for sharing this night with us. We are here, in part, because of you: your support and your example have played no small role in our becoming who we are as teachers and as people.
I know this isn’t the Academy Awards, but if you will allow me just a minute, I do have a few people to thank on a personal level. First, I can never begin to adequately thank my parents, Byron and Sallie Gough, for being my first and best teachers. At ages 81 and 76, respectively, their curiosity about the world and their zest for living has never faltered. Intelligent, generous, highly principled, but fun-loving, my parents made growing up a grand adventure. From my gregarious dad, especially, I learned to savor life’s simplest pleasures and, from my mom, I learned that if anything is worth doing, it is worth exuberantly overdoing. My parents, who came from Mississippi to be here tonight, continue to share with me the greatest gifts of all: their fierce love and encouragement, their optimism, their insights, their values, and their belief that excellence is its own reward.
To my sister, Ginny, who is sweetness and gentleness personified, and beloved of everyone in our home town, I bow in your direction for many things, including your decision, at age 49, to return to college. What an example for all of us.
To my husband, Joe, the wisest and funniest man under age 81 that I know, thank you for your example of impeccably high standards, of humbleness in the face of high achievement, and of the value of good old-fashioned common sense. As your incredibly proud partner for nearly 20 years—and your dance partner for 10--I am grateful for every adventure and every quiet Sunday afternoon we’ve shared.
To my principal, Pat Griffin, thank you for taking a risk on me nearly five years ago when I was only provisionally certified with no public school teaching experience. I have learned many lessons from you, often by your example and especially about inspired and inspiring leadership and professionalism. You continue to teach me as much by what you don’t say, as by what you do.
To my Assistant Principals and IB Program Coordinators, especially Helen Cox, Tom Gustafson, and Barbara Winn, with whom I work most closely, thank you for your belief in my abilities and for the myriad ways you have both challenged and supported me. I am glad it is you holding the bar so high.
To fine arts coordinator, Anne Wolcott, and art specialist, Sharon Clohessy, who are not only trusted colleagues but treasured personal friends, thank you for your vision, your leadership and your encouragement. And to my unofficial teacher-mentors, especially Nicole Brisco in Texas, and Beth Camper, Pat McGloine, Mylinda McKinney, Betsy Morris, David Prescott, Sara Reich and Camy Walck at PA, through your support, guidance and inspiration as cherished friends, stellar teachers and role models, you both sooth and invigorate in equal measure. You have transformed me and my teaching practice and I am forever grateful.
To my students, past and present, thank you for bringing out the best in me and for surely teaching me as much as I have taught you. It is a privilege to work with each and every one of you. And my life is far richer because of you.
Introduction
I don’t remember a lot of details about the day Dr. Merrill and an entourage of administrators entered my classroom last spring under the glare of TV camera lights, as it is a euphoric blur. But I do remember looking at him through the bouquet of roses that he bore and saying incredulously, “I thought you’d never come. Literally.”
You see, being chosen Teacher of the Year was something that I thought happened to other people. Throughout the selection process, I thought, “I’m not Amanda Ash, Erika Hitchcock, Pat McGloine or Fran Hatzopoulos.” And it’s true, I’m not. But I’ve come to realize that that is a good thing. As the 13th century Persian poet Rumi observed, “There are a thousand ways to kneel and kiss the earth." And students are better off for the rich diversity of excellent teachers in our district who kneel and kiss the earth in their own way. It is right and good that our personal passions should have driven us into our respective fields and that those passions should continue to shape our individual approaches to the curricula that we teach.
For as long as I can remember, my personal passion has been visual art. I feel so fortunate to teach in a district that embraces art for what it is: a valid way of knowing, of exploring and of expressing ideas about the world’s deepest mysteries and our place in relation to them so that we may achieve greater understanding and act with greater insight and wisdom. I am also fortunate that my chosen field of study lends itself especially well to opening students’ eyes, hearts and minds as they explore, experiment and express their ideas about the past, present and future.
As the late educator, Dr. Charles Fowler asserts, “The arts are acts of intelligence no less than other subjects. They are forms of thought every bit as potent as mathematical and scientific symbols in what they convey.... Like other symbol systems, the arts require study before they can be fully understood. “
In terms of the heart in particular, as educators, we know that when students’ emotions are engaged, they learn better. Or, to quote Israel Rosenfield, an M.D. and Professor of History at City University of New York, “People must have a way to relate to (a) subject in terms of what is personally important, and this means acknowledging both the emotional impact and their deeply held needs and drives."
Within the study of visual art, there are myriad compelling and exciting ways to engage students’ emotions while also nurturing skillful communication and collaboration, global awareness and individual responsibility, and thought processes that are analytical, critical and innovative, all hallmarks of what our district has identified as a sound 21st century education. For my students and me, the path to a rigorous and relevant study of art begins right in our own backyard.
In my practice, I draw on the age old and enduring artistic tradition in which everyday objects convey meaning beyond what is obvious. I try to help students understand that, when filtered through their individual lenses, these seemingly mundane objects that surround us can, in combination, become metaphors for concepts that are deeply meaningful on many levels. For example, in beautiful graphite and ink drawings, clothespins combined with objects that students bring from home serve as metaphors for personal connections, while paper airplanes and building blocks become metaphors for personal journeys. Though most of what I call “Creative Challenges” are inspired by objects found in our metaphorical backyards, others are inspired by artists or art institutions right down the street. Local visiting artists and field trips have resulted in incredibly multi-layered art-making experiences.
In just a moment, you will see first-hand in a short video montage how everyday objects, local artists and community arts organizations have served as creative springboards for six of my students. There are not enough homemade cookies in the world to repay Steve Delaney and Lee Mitchell, Princess Anne High School’s Computer Resource Teachers, for making the video a reality. Throughout any given year, one of them takes the lead on special projects such as this, while the other tends to the lion’s share of day-to- day matters. In this case, Steve served as both producer and creative director. His artistry and his technical wizardry are matched only by his patience, dedication, enthusiasm and good humor.
Before the short screening, I want to take just a minute to set the stage for the finished artwork that you will see in the video. Leading off is Macon Brock, a personal friend of my husband’s and mine. This former Marine officer co-founded Dollar Tree where he has served as president, CEO and, currently, Chairman of the Board. Chosen as the First Citizen of Virginia Beach earlier this year, Macon and his wife Joan are widely recognized for their exemplary leadership and generous philanthropy especially in the areas of business, education, and the arts. I am deeply appreciative to both of them for being with us this evening and to Macon for sharing just a few insights about what he sees as key ingredients to success in the working world and in life.
Following Macon are my six students who, with no notes and no rehearsal, speak candidly about weaving together diverse areas of knowledge and experience to craft deeply personal and socially significant statements in innovative ways. Though their technical skill and formal problem-solving is obvious, it is the personal relevance of the content that they emphasize.
Opening and closing the student section are Erin Edwards and Anthony Martin who discuss conceptual self-portraits that began with the shoes on their feet as surrogates for themselves in highly personal pieces about literal and figurative journeys, hers on a mission trip to Bolivia and his across the country through challenging emotional terrain.
Pratyush Agarwal shares a piece about alternatives in life, including alternative energy, inspired by drawings of cars and engines in our school parking lot.
Challenged to interpret an idiomatic expression through a clay portrait bust following a demonstration by local clay sculptor, Lesley Hildreth, Rachel Adamos, chose “A Little Birdie Told Me,” an idiom with surprising relevance to her life as a teenager.
After hearing a presentation by Virginian-Pilot newspaper illustrator Sam Hundley, Robert Liebowitz, who created his linoleum block illustration in 2007-2008, took on Hillary Clinton’s bid for the White House in a powerful way that reveals both his interest in politics and his unique sense of humor.
And Rachel Tucker discusses her piece about growth and change following a fieldtrip to an exhibition of Shona sculpture at the Norfolk Botanical Gardens. As an aside, ODU administrators were so impressed by Rachel’s and the other students’ work that they hosted an exhibition and reception for us from which the ODU provost purchased Rachel’s artwork for her personal collection.
Conclusion
I remember thinking that if I was ever chosen as Teacher of the Year, I would know that I had arrived. And it is true, as Teachers of the Year, we all have arrived. But not at the pinnacle, like I once thought. Rather we have arrived at the beginning of the next phase of the journey with all of its exciting opportunities, responsibilities and challenges.
I pledge to go forward with all of you as both a student and a teacher, willing to believe that when the many challenges that face us seem insurmountable, it is quite possibly because we are not thinking about them in the right way. If we will, as teachers, continue to strengthen in ourselves the very skills, content knowledge and habits of mind that we seek to nurture in our students, then we are sure to transform our own thinking in the process of transforming theirs. If solutions to this century’s unique challenges within education and beyond are to be found, it will be because teachers and administrators stood together with our students, their families and other members of our community, in our own backyards, at the place where our personal passions, our respective fields of study, and our emotional and intellectual lives intersect, and thought in wholly new ways. As Norman Vincent Peal declared, “Change your thoughts and you change your world. “
Congratulations once again, Teachers of the Year and Finalists, and thank you to everyone for the role you have played both in this memorable evening and the path that brought us all here. Good night.
Elizabeth (Betsy) DiJulio
2010 Teacher of the Year