By Melody Weintraub, TAEA President Elect
Congratulations to our 2020 Tennessee Art Education Association Awardees! The review committee had a difficult time with the decisions this year due to multiple nominations of highly qualified recipients in several of the categories. However, this year, we designed a rubric that was posted with the nomination information to aid not only the nominators in providing the information needed, but it also helped the reviewers make more objective decisions.
As always, it is an honor to even be nominated by a colleague for an award, so please do not hesitate nominating someone you believe should be recognized as soon as this information rolls out again next Spring.
The Clay Lady Campus will host a reception for the 2020 Awardees on October 24 at 6:30. Tickets are $15 each. Awardees are free. Each recipient will be recognized with a beautiful plaque. They will also be recognized during the conference on Friday.
This year we will also have a fundraiser during the event to help support a scholarship for Pre-Service Art Teachers. Our plan is to sell items made by students. Last year, we sold clay cottage luminaries and raised $540 for the hurricane relief effort in North Carolina for art teachers who lost supplies. I was able to meet one of the teachers who benefitted from our donation. It was a such a rewarding experience. Our donation was also featured in the NAEA Advisory Newsletter under the Southeastern Region Report.
Hope to see you at the awards reception and conference. Be sure to congratulate the following:
2020 TAEA Awardees
Tennessee Art Educator of the Year…………………………. Carol Eckert
West Region Art Educator of the Year………………………. Melanie Anderson
Middle Region Art Educator of the Year……………………… Terri Barton
East Region Art Educator of the Year…………………………. Paige Burchell
Elementary Art Educator of the Year…………………………… Cheryl Burchett
Middle Level Art Educator of the Year…………………………. Gulcan Demirtas
Secondary Art Educator of the Year……………………………… Heather McHugh
Supervision/Administration Art Educator of the Year…… Allison Ross
Museum Art Educator of the Year………………………………… Kate Renner
First Year Art Educator of the Year………………………………… Brendalynn Triplett
National Art Honor Society Sponsor of the Year……………. Cheri Jorgenson
Higher Education Student Achievement Award……………… Reese Kougher
Friend of TAEA……………………………………………………………….. Danielle McDaniel/The Clay Lady
