SCHOOLS 'Outstanding' is New Wilmington art teacher's middle name

She has taught in the New Wilmington area for the past 30 years.
NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. -- Awards are becoming commonplace for a Wilmington Area art teacher.
Avalyn Shank recently was named the Outstanding Pennsylvania Art Education Association Representative for the western part of the state.
Her responsibility as the regional representative for PAEA is working at the grass-roots level with art teachers in Beaver, Butler, Lawrence and Mercer counties. She'll keep the teachers up to date with newsletters, field trips and providing professional development.
This will be the first year that PAEA board meetings will take place outside Harrisburg. Shank said she is looking forward to hosting the first one in New Wilmington in April.
She's also been recognized as PAEA Middle School Art Teacher of the Year in 1996 and the New Castle Jr. Women's Club Community Awards Educator of the Year in 2000.
Shank explained how winning awards comes naturally: "I love my job. Love it! Love it! Love it!"
Background
A native of Bucks County, she has taught in various venues around New Wilmington for the past 30 years.
Shank currently teaches grades five through eight at New Wilmington Middle School.
"I am teaching children using the medium of art as my vehicle, helping them to grow, learn who they are, learn to express themselves, and to become creative thinkers and problem solvers," she said.
She said receiving the award is an honor, but her main goal as a member of the PAEA is to have the importance of art recognized throughout the community.
Shank maintains an active community art involvement, participating at the Hoyt Art Institute in New Castle, the New Wilmington Arts and Heritage Festival and the Village Art Gallery in New Wilmington.
As an art educator, she is required to meet state standards for arts and humanities. Art is considered a core subject, equal to math and reading.
Praise
Ben Fennick, middle school principal, commented at a recent school board meeting that Shank is "a master pack rat, master recycler, working very hard to keep it organized."
Shank has worked under Fennick for the past 14 years. "She is far beyond drawing and painting," he added, noting she spends a lot of extra time at her job before and after school.
Shank is also involved in the district's Communities That Care after-school program, and is working with students on a three-dimensional Christmas tree.