Palatine Art Teacher Recognized for Professional Service

The Illinois Art Education Association (IAEA) named Joanna Angelopoulos, art teacher at Gray M. Sanborn School, the 2013 recipient of the IAEA Distinguished Service in the Profession of Art Education Award.

The IAEA will presented Angelopoulos with the award at the IAEA's 65th annual conference on October 26 at the Hilton Hotel in Lisle.

“This award recognizes the exemplary contributions, service, and achievements of one outstanding IAEA member annually,” said Theresa McGee, IAEA vice president. “The awards committee believes Mrs. Angelopoulos’s work inside the classroom and her coordination with other teachers in the school provides an extraordinary education for the students at Gray M. Sanborn Elementary. Mrs. Angelopoulos’s involvement outside the classroom, in the art education field, with the IAEA, and in the District 15 community have benefited many people.”

Angelopoulos is a resident of Chicago, Illinois. She was selected on the basis of her outstanding commitment to visual art education in her field as well as her wider contributions in the Northeastern Illinois region, a release says. 

A National Board Certified Teacher since 2005, Angelopoulos has been an elementary art teacher at Gray M. Sanborn Elementary for the past 13 years. Along the way, she figured out how to combine what she describes as the three most important aspects of her profession: art, education, and travel. During her career, she has traveled many parts of the world to learn about art and education, and has been inspired by the places, faces, and spaces she has encountered.

As a graduate student of New York University, Angelopoulos studied in Venice, Italy. Between 2008 and 2010, she participated in two distinguished programs: the Japan Fulbright Memorial Fund Teacher Program and the Distinguished Fulbright Award in Teaching Program. In both endeavors, she embraced and learned about different cultures, their history and educational systems; bringing knowledge and experiences back to her own art room.

Angelopoulos continually shares her expertise as a conference presenter at the local and state levels, the release says. Additionally she has had articles published in the IAEA Mosaic newsletter, Scholastic Art Magazine (November 2013), and online through her blog, SMocKroom (http://smockroom.blogspot.com). In 2012, Mrs. Angelopoulos was awarded The Illinois Alliance for Education’s Visual Art Educator Award, honoring her achievement and dedication to arts education.

“This award is an honor to receive. I share this distinction with my colleagues who have influenced my teaching practice and my passion to elevate the profession of art education toward new standards,” she said. “It’s amazing to watch students blossom in the art room, and we shall strive to advocate for arts education, providing nothing but the best for our students, one paint stroke at a time.”

The IAEA is an association of the art educators of Illinois. The organization has been serving the children and art educators of Illinois for over 75 years by providing professional development for educators through workshops, conferences, grants, exhibition opportunities, facilitating communication, promoting conditions for the effective teaching of art, and working to influence educational change and reform.