outh Fayette
SOUTH FAYETTE TOWNSHIP SCHOOL DISTRICT NEWS
Diane M. Lally has been selected as the 2016 Pennsylvania Art Education Association Outstanding Middle Level Art Educator of the Year. She received her award at the PAEA Annual Convention, October 8, 2016, in Philadelphia, PA.
Diane Lally has been a visual arts educator at the middle school level for 23 years. She has enriched student learning by collaborating with the Carnegie and Warhol museums, and most recently with Carnegie Mellon University where she participated in a program of professional development and robotics training that she integrated into her art curriculum. She is also sponsor of the District’ s National Junior Art Honor Society for which she received grant funding from the Grable Foundation.
Diane actively supports, advocates for, and promotes visual arts education through ongoing learning and professional development opportunities, and by taking active leadership
Recess Buddy Bench
As the fastest growing District in the state of Pennsylvania, new students arrive on a regular basis to South Fayette Elementary School, and the playground can be especially challenging for new students. The elementary school wanted to find a way to help students make friends, so a“ Buddy Bench” was added to the playground.
If a child doesn’ t have anyone to play with at recess, he / she can sit on the Buddy Bench. When the other children see a child sitting on the Buddy Bench, that is their clue to invite the child to play with them. The Buddy Bench encourages children to recognize when someone needs a friend, and it helps create an inviting atmosphere for all children on the playground.
The elementary school has adopted UPMC’ s Dignity and Respect Program, and this is one way for our students to show kindness and offer a helping hand to others. If you would ask our students what“ dignity and respect” means to them, they would most likely say it means treat others the way you would want to be treated.
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and service roles in the District, region, state and national levels. She has been an active member of an arts advocacy group in Pittsburgh, the Arts Education Collaborative, for which she designed and developed“ Imagination” – a framework for visual art education – and most recently participated as a coach for the AEC Pilot Induction Program. Diane co-authored the curriculum guide“ 21st Century Visual Arts Curriculum Project K-12.”
Of 700 applicants, Diane was one of 30 teachers selected to participate in the National Endowment of the Humanities Summer Institute on Renaissance Humanism in Florence, Italy. She has presented at two NAEA conferences and three PAEA conferences, was one of a team of fine arts teachers to receive the CLO 2005 Charles Gray Award for Special Achievement in Arts Education, and serves on the district’ s Strategic Visioning and Planning Steering Committee.
When asked about the Buddy Bench, students say they like the bench, because other students can see if you don’ t have anyone to play with on the playground. One student said she made new friends by sitting on the Buddy Bench, and another student said it helps students who are too shy to ask others if they can play. The Buddy Bench is one more way students at South Fayette Elementary School are demonstrating dignity and respect to others.