Title
Recognizing and honoring Leslie Grace for being named the 2016 Pennsylvania Art Education Association's Outstanding Elementary Art Educator.
Body
WHEREAS, Leslie Grace fell in love with art as a child, and her passion led her to study art education at Georgia State University. The South Carolina native started her career as a high school teacher, then moved north to teach at an elementary school in Delaware. Grace arrived in Philadelphia to teach for 6 years at Friends' Central School, where she taught while receiving her master's degree from Saint Joseph's University. After a short stint in North Philadelphia, Grace became the first art teacher at George W. Nebinger School in 15 years; and
WHEREAS, Grace never backs down from challenges in order to help the students at Nebinger, but instead faces them with creativity. Because Nebinger had no money in its budget for art supplies in her first year, Grace raised the money needed to establish Nebinger's art program through crowdfunding. She raised $9,000 for supplies in the first year alone. In her three years at Nebinger, Grace has raised a total of over $20,000 in order to provide opportunities for her students to experience art; and
WHEREAS, Grace is an essential member of the arts education community in Philadelphia. She organized the Philadelphia Art Teachers Alliance, which aims to advance the arts in Philadelphia's public schools by providing opportunities for K-12 art teachers to support each other, share their practice and experiences (including their own artistic endeavors), and advocate for quality arts education for students across the City; and
WHEREAS, Grace's greatest joy comes from being in the classroom with her students, where she offers them a transformative experience through art. For students at Nebinger, Grace's art classroom is a place of creativity and positivity, of freedom to explore and of connection to the world and to each other. Grace teaches her students that they ...
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