Arts Department Chair Erin Gleason was recognized as the faculty member in January who most embodied the 2023-2024 school year’s theme: Level Up!

Erin Gleason’s nominations from Arts Department teachers read: 

• “Erin is always enthusiastic about bouncing new ideas around and helping to figure out how to make them happen. She is encouraging about elevating each individual student and faculty member, and the Arts Department as a whole.” - Kellen Corrigan, Culinary Arts Teacher and Bistro Chef 

• “Erin has been such a level-headed leader in the Arts Department, balancing the classroom, department chair, taking photos all over campus, planning fun special events that she has thought up herself, and always checking in with the department, making sure we’re on top of ordering supplies, keeping studios tidy, and just being our best selves for the students. She’s a fan of the surprise treat, like the pins she made the cast of Into the Woods! I love that in everything we are doing for the students, Erin also works to make it fun for us!” - Megan Cooper, Arts and History and Social Sciences Teacher 

• “Erin leads every interaction with kindness and compassion. She prioritizes wellness of the whole community and is constantly finding ways to ensure no one is overlooked in that effort.” - Diantha Giltz, Arts Teacher

• “She is extremely patient, super talented, wonderfully supportive. What is best for the department AND the students is always her first concern. She is fun, calm, realistic, hard-working, observant, and empathetic. She works hard to reach every student in a way that that student might best understand what she is trying to teach them. Erin is a truly amazing educator.” - Tammy Grella, Arts Teacher  

“It is an honor to be nominated by my dedicated colleagues for Level Up! faculty member of January,” says Gleason. “I am part of a passionate group of art teachers who love what they teach and enjoy sharing their love of the arts with our students. Our group is constantly working on bringing new ideas, materials, processes, etc., to the classrooms, kitchen, stage, and studios, all while inspiring each other in our teaching and art-making practices. I cherish the moments we share with our students through their journey of creating art.”

Read more about the Level Up! theme here.