Susan teaches K-5 art at Cantiague Elementary, Jericho, N.Y.
She: Has positioned the arts near the top of her relatively affluent
community's agenda, despite today's test-centric climate. "We have
tried here, while meeting all mandates, to embrace the arts," says
superintendent Hank Grishman. "And Susan is core to that." Gets her
often-paint-splattered fingerprints to touch all subjects, from music
to social studies to character education, in all classrooms throughout
the school. "It's about the integration of art into everything we do,"
Grishman says. Nicknamed Mrs. "Magic" Menkes. Traveled to Japan on a
Fulbright in 2002; the "Peace by Piece" mural, by 84 of her
fifth-graders and 85 Japanese students, hangs in Cantiague's lobby,
and a reproduction was sent by request to the White House. Won grants
for projects promoting cultural understanding through art, including
collaborations with children in Russia and across the country.
Supports inclusion of gifted and those with learning disabilities to
help everyone; sees everyone as an artist "in some way." For every
project, every year, "she gives it to you, and you make it your own,"
says Marisa Joachim, 10.
(copied from the web page - link above)
Susan says the photo was taken on Pinwheels for Peace day.
I will be adding this to Art News on IAD... Any one else have some
good news to shout about?
