Congratulations to Johanne "Jo" McGinnis, Wolcott Elementary School, and Thelma Halloran, Sedgwick Middle School, for being selected by the Connecticut Art Educators as the Outstanding Art Educators at their levels. Information about Thelma Halloran, and her acceptance speech, are below and follow the link at the bottom of the page to learn more about Jo McGinnis.
Thelma Halloran
Thelma Halloran received a B.F.A from Ithaca College, Ithaca, NY and a M.S. from Southern Connecticut State University, New Haven, CT. She is a member of the Essex Art Association, National Art Education Association and the Connecticut Art Education Association. Thelma has received awards from numerous organizations such as the Foundation for West Hartford Public Schools, Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, Connecticut State Celebration of Excellence.
Her art work has been seen in solo exhibitions (The Town and County Club, Hartford, CT, The Gallery at Riverside Press, Essex, CT, Mercer Management, New York, NY) and group invitationals (Sound Shore Gallery, Port Chester, NY, Lynchburg College, Lynchburg, VA, Mueller Faculty Building, Ithaca College, Ithaca, NY). Thelma has also participated in many juried exhibitions and her work is part of three private collections.
She has authored curricular enhancements in which she believes a “strong curriculum delivered with passion and enthusiasm seeks to create an environment where every child can succeed.” Some of those enhancements are:
• Devised adaptive art curriculum to meet the individual needs of multi-disabled students.
• Participated in Connecticut state workshop to evaluate BEST (Beginning Educator Standards for Teachers) portfolio scoring criteria.
• Anti-Defamation League training in “A World of Difference” anti-bias curriculum for grades K-12.
The Department of Fine and Performing Arts is proud to feature Thelma Halloran this month. Her acceptance speech for being recognized by the Connecticut Art Education Association as the 2006 Outstanding Middle School Art Educator follows.
Thank you everyone for coming out tonight. Thank you members of the CAEA awards committee, members of the CAEA board, and fellow CAEA members.
Art is all about relationships and so follows life. My mother would always say to me that you can tell a lot about a person by the company they keep. Well, I consider myself in very good company. And that’s why I gratefully accept this award because it’s not just for me, but for all of the wonderful people who see more in me than I often see in myself.
As an adult, I’ve tried to honor my mother’s advice by surrounding myself with the best of the best. I have the best husband and the best daughter. They know how hard it can be to live with a creative person who makes creative dinners and does creative housekeeping and yet, they graciously put up with all of it. I got the best start in teaching with my cooperating teacher, Jay Granucci, who taught me to do the job until it’s done and always do what’s best for children. I teach in the best school, in the best school system with the best supervisor, Pam Murphy, where every idea is respected and supported. I teach with the best professional educators in the best state for education and every teacher I’ve ever known helped me connect to another way of listening, seeing and thinking.
I love what we do as art educators. I’m proud to represent so many of you who work so hard to share your gifts with children every day. And so this award represents the best of where we are now and the best work we have yet to do. To paraphrase a poem by Dawna Markova…”I choose to risk my significance, to live so that which came to me as seed goes to the next as blossom, and that which came to me as blossom, goes on as fruit.” Thank you.
