Being successful as an art teacher means seeing a student’s smiling face and sense of pride in a project says Adaire’s Charlene Lutz.

“The one thing that makes every day special for me is when a kid tells me something they learned,” Charlene said. “A student might show me a painting or tell me about a connection that they made in our lesson to the work. The wonder and smile on their face really makes me realize that they love it.”

Now in her eighth year as a teacher at Adaire, Charlene leads a unique double life. Not only is she an art teacher, but she is also a professional artist whose has been featured in such locations as the Muse Gallery in Philadelphia, Philadelphia City Hall and, most recently, Bittersweet Kitchen in Media, Pennsylvania.

“I find working as an artist and art teacher benefit each other while moving separately in a constant evolution,” Charlene said. “The students keep me grounded and consistent. My own work keeps me real. Both are a reflection of who I am and I can't do one without the other.

Charlene grew up just outside of Philadelphia, in Springfield, Delaware County. She has a bachelor’s degree from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York and a master’s degree from American Intercontinental University in Schaumburg, Illinois.

”I chose teaching as a profession because I really wanted to spread the power of art around. I also feel a strong connection to kids,” Charlene says.

When asked about her favorite thing at Adaire, Charlene says. “The students inspire me everyday to be a better person, teacher and artist,” she says.”Their kindness, curiosity, willingness to try new things and self reflection make me amazingly proud and grateful to teach them.”

Away from school, Charlene loves drawing and painting in her studio or “just being creative in any way that I can,” she says.

“Writing, sewing, experimenting with new recipes, working in my garden or taking care of my houseplants enable me to be creative in different ways other than through the visual arts,” Charlene said. “I also love reading, music, playing sports, running, and doing yoga."

Adaire Kindergarten Fundraiser! Join us on Saturday, April 13th from 8-10am at Applebees (2501 Aramingo Ave) to support the Kindergarten moving-up ceremony.  This will be a Flapjack Fundraiser Breakfast with door prizes and tickets are on sale for $7.50. Contact Julie for information.

**Parent Survey**  Parents need their child’s student ID number to complete the parent survey and you can find the student’s ID number on his or her report card.  At this point, 10% of parents completed the survey and we need more parents to submit their responses. Stop by the Parent Survey Station on Wednesday, April 3rd from 12:30-3pm to learn more.

Photography Program Makes Local News: We recently highlighted the awesome efforts of the Photo in Schools program, implemented by the Philadelphia Arts Center and funded by Penn Treaty Special Services District. Check out the Starr News article highlighting the not-so-conventional topics our students are learning.

The Food Trust:   The Food Trust is a long time partner at Adaire. Under the federal SNAP-Ed program, the organization does monthly taste tests, 3 annual direct lessons in the classroom and periodic farm stands. Join us for the next farm stand on April 3rd. The recent Food Trust - PTSSD grant will enable to the Food Trust to hire community nutrition ambassadors to do work related to school farm stands/backpack programs in the Fishtown and South Kensington neighborhoods, as well as support some cross-programming and community partnerships work in the Kensington neighborhoods. The grant will support the hiring of two part-time ambassadors, who will likely be working in seven schools. In addition to hiring the community nutrition ambassador, the funds will go towards acquiring philly food bucks to provide to shoppers who shop at farm stands. At this point, the schools included are Adaire, Moffet and Hackett and will likely include some schools about 1/2 mile to a mile from the Fishtown radius.  The Food Trust is hiring! Ideally. candidates would be from the communities they are serving. Interested? Check out the flier below.