| 2011-2012 Art Educator of the Year: Pauline Pichette |
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| Barbara Morrison, Pauline Pichette and Martha Rives |
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| The New Hampshire Art Educators' Association selection committee is
proud to announce that the 2011- 2012 Art Educator of the Year is
Pauline Pichette. Pauline has been teaching art at Matthew Thornton
Elementary School, Londonderry, NH since 1980.
Matthew Thornton's
Principal Carol Mack says “Pauline distinguishes herself as an
educator who sets high standards and then works to help the students
meet the challenges she presents.”
Ms. Mack goes on to say “every
school has a go to person that the principal and staff know will always
be ready to help. Pauline is that person and more.”
Pauline's
colleague, Anne Silvius, says that Pauline is a gifted teacher who has
the unique ability to provide that something extra to those students who
have needs in a variety of areas. She sets the tone with her cheerful
approach to difficulties, challenges and issues that arise within the
school.
Beyond the art room Pauline is an exceptionally dedicated
and involved faculty member and active member of the New Hampshire Art
Educators' Association, as scholarship chair since 2008.
Art
Educator of the Year is a very prestigious honor given to a NH art
educator showing outstanding dedication to his/her profession. Please
consider applying for this outstanding award. Award recipients are
honored at the NHAEA Fall conference, represents our state at the NAEA
National Convention and at the Edies, the Dept. of Educations awards for
excellence in education.
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Pauline's acceptance speech at the Fall Conference:
Dear NH Art Educators,
When I was thinking about what my message would be to the art educators of NH, I started by trying to think of the major highlights from my 30+ years as a teacher. I figured that I would recall a lot of seminal moments, both successes and challenges that really define who I am as a teacher and what my teaching career has been about. But all that reflection made me realize that teaching isn’t about the big defining moments, and my teaching has nothing really to do with trying to achieve them. Instead, teaching is about the thousands of little moments that happen over the course of our time spent with students, and in many cases, we may not know how or why or when we have reached a student. When I think back to some of the most formative moments I had as a student myself, many of them were insignificant, a teacher being kind, saying just what I needed to hear at just the moment when I needed to hear it, a particular assignment or class lesson that stayed with me. We never know how our actions are going to touch someone, and therefore as teachers we must always act as though our words and actions matter.
All of us have a story to tell about how we got here, and what influenced us to become an Educator. Art had always had a strong pull for me, since I first visited the Currier Gallery of Art in Manchester with my uncle at 6 years old. I remember looking at those paintings and feeling awe-struck.
When I graduated from college with an art education degree, I started teaching as a long-term substitute, spending a semester in science, then a year in math, working just a chapter ahead of my students. Teaching positions in art were few and far between, but I held out until there was an opening at Matthew Thornton School, and I’ve been there ever since. It is a blessing to be doing what I love, to be sharing it with so many students. What I discovered from all of this, is that whatever detours you may have taken in your education or your life, your experiences, talents and knowledge are all tools we as teachers must use to reach our students.
It isn’t always easy to be a teacher, and to do it well and to do right by the children. It isn’t always easy to stay passionate and not grow complacent. There are a lot of obstacles to quality education today, obstacles for teachers, students, parents, and administrators. I think that the biggest challenge is that education is not the priority that it should be. This manifests itself in many ways, budget cuts, and dropout rates of both students and teachers, the disappearance of art, music, or special programs from the curriculum, and disturbing levels of violence in the schools. Some of these struggles have been around for a long time, some are symptoms of the particular time and culture that we live in, but now more than ever we need advocates for education. We need the political and social will to say that education is important, and that our children are the most important resources we have. In many ways, quality education is the answer to many of the social issues we face, crime, poverty, discrimination. These are symptoms of children who have slipped through the cracks in the educational system. It is a tricky problem because it can’t just be solved with increased funding – although that is an essential component – but it is our collective attitude towards a well rounded education, and the decision we must make about which direction we need to take as a society. There are not un-teachable children; there are only those that have not yet been taught.
The subject that I teach is art, but imparting knowledge about the subject is only part of the picture. I think one of the most important things about teaching is that we are not teaching the subject, we are teaching the student. While I am an art teacher, my job is to teach students what they need to know through art. Whenever funding is tight, there are those who always believe art and music are dispensable, that they aren’t important enough to save because they don’t impart a specific and tangible skill. But this is thinking about art education too narrowly. Art is the nexus to every subject. Art stimulates right brain thinking, to problem solve through creative critical thinking. Art is whole brain thinking and children learn by doing through their senses. I have found that I can use art to teach any subject as well as life lessons, a good work ethic, collaborating and sharing with others, fulfilling responsibilities and tolerance or ways to help save our environment. In fact, teachers who focus exclusively on their subject are missing important teaching moments. It is not just about what students do for the 50 minutes that they are captive, but what they do on their own time, if they do the assignments, think about the subject, are inspired to look at the world a new way. I believe that when teaching is done well, when it truly has an impact, it does not know the boundaries of the classroom walls and cannot hear the bell signaling the end of the period. I try to bring my students to the world and the world to my students as much as possible. I teach through example; I involve myself in as many things as I can in my school and community.
I also think it is important to make the time to grow as a teacher. I constantly develop my skills and knowledge by taking hands-on workshops and learning new trends in art and education. Every year I attend the NHAEA and NAEA conferences at home and in other cities and take advantage of the museums, architecture, theater or whatever resources they have to offer. The more I do, the more excited I am to bring new ideas into my classroom.
To emphasize, my message to the art educators of NH is that as teachers we must always act as though our words and actions matter. Everything we do or learn in life our knowledge, experience and talents should be used as our tools to teach our students what they need to know. Be advocates for education by getting involved in your school and communities. Be flexible and adapt to change. Stay motivated to motivate your students, have a positive attitude and school spirit. Most of all, it is important to make learning fun whenever you can, have a great sense of humor and enjoy and savor every wonderful moment because it passes so quickly.
Thank you,
Pauline Pichette
Matthew Thornton School, Londonderry
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