WVU School of Art and Design Assistant Professor Terese Giobbia, art education major Alexandra Miller and alumna Paige Fronczek all received awards during WVAEA’s annual conference.
Giobbia was awarded the association’s West Virginia Distinguished Service Within the Profession Award. She was selected for the award by WVAEA members for her dedicated commitment to the organization.
“This organization showcases how visual arts benefits our
students and contributes to their overall growth and success,” Giobbia said. “Every
art teacher in the state should be a part of it and I am honored to have been
chosen by such a distinguished group of art teachers for this award.”
Giobbia worked tirelessly to fulfill WVAEA’s mission of advancing West Virginia
art education and promote the arts as essential elements in education programs.
“Some of my recent projects include coordinating the fall 2018 conference for state art educators and maintaining our department’s education blog to provide a means for educating the public about aims, purposes and issues of art education,” Giobbia said. “Through private funding from art education alumni, we developed and implemented a Teachers’ Institute that allowed art educators to participate in workshops and seminars supporting their own professional development. We were also able to provide full funding for the professional development credits they received from the two-day institute.”
Miller received the West Virginia Student Achievement of the Year Award, voted on by the WVAEA membership.
“As current president of the Preservice National Arts Education Association division, Alex has helped to organize fundraisers, keep the blog updated about current events and has acted as a liaison between myself and the students,” Giobbia said.
Fronczek, who graduated from WVU’s Art Education program in 2018, was named the Secondary Art Educator of the Year. Fronczek is employed as a full-time art teacher at University High School in Morgantown.