Teacher helps students find the artist within

Susan Selvaggio By Joann Groff joann@theacorn.com

Susan Selvaggio has goose bumps. And, she says, she’s about to cry.

The Sinaloa art teacher spends her days guiding the creativity of middle schoolers in Simi Valley, and although she says she feels appreciated by her students, Selvaggio has been blown away by “all the attention” she’s received since being named a 2010 Lew Roth Award recipient.

Weeks after the announcement, Selvaggio still gets emotional talking about the praise she’s received from her colleagues and students.

“I am still in shock over this,” Selvaggio said. “I just feel very lucky and very humbled. I feel that my work is very visible because it’s around the campus—you can actually see it. Everybody here at Sinaloa deserves it. I want to share it with everybody.”

The Simi Valley Education Foundation will host its annual Lew Roth Awards Dinner tonight at the Grand Vista Hotel in Simi Valley, honoring six individuals who have greatly contributed to Simi Valley Schools, including Selvaggio.

“It was a wonderful surprise, especially to know that my colleagues were the ones who nominated me,” she said. “That made it all the more special. It sounds cliché, but it’s from my colleagues that I draw inspiration.”

Sinaloa Principal Diana Janke said Selvaggio is the school’s greatest artistic force and credited her for the murals and mosaic on the middle school’s campus.

“Any time we need anything creative done on this campus we go to her,” Janke said.

But it’s not just her creative talents that make her such an asset.

“She puts kids first, and the things she does to get fantastic pieces of artwork out of them is amazing,” Janke said. “These kids have little or no experience, and Susan has a way to help them create these wonderful things.”

Selvaggio said it’s not all about natural talent.

“Students come in nervous and think, ‘I’m not an artist. I’m not going to do well in here,’” she said. “Everybody in (my class) has a chance for success. I’m grading them on their personal best effort. I want to see improvement. The best part is when they look at what they’ve done and they can’t believe it.”

Selvaggio said her upbringing influenced the way she teaches.

“I was raised to do my best,” she said. “That’s pretty much what I preach in the classroom. Whether you’re doing an art project, doing homework, a chore—always do your best. And just when you think you’ve done your best, push yourself and you’ll go a little further.”

Teachers sometimes don’t realize the impact they’re having on children, she said.

“I don’t think we’re aware of how much power we have,” Selvaggio said. “You can make a remark and say one little thing, and that could be what the student will take away. We have to realize every single thing we do and say, what we are modeling, they are watching and listening even if we think they’re not.”

Selvaggio began her teaching career in New York in the ’70s. She taught for five years before she and her husband, Gary, moved to California.

Selvaggio raised her two children, who are now grown and “very gifted artists.” She managed an art gallery before coming back to teaching in 1993. Selvaggio has been at Sinaloa for more than 15 years.

She’s always taught art, and this year is teaching eighth-grade art classes, which focus on drawing, and crafts, with an emphasis on building activities using ceramics and wood sculpture.

“I can never remember not being interested in art,” Selvaggio said. “I’ve always felt like I see things differently.”

Selvaggio prefers drawing in pencil but also does monoprints and has recently been experimenting with watercolors.

These days nothing makes her happier than to hear that her students are also enjoying art.

“I’ve actually had students get back in touch with me after high school and tell me, ‘I’m in art school. I never knew I was interested in art until I took your class.’ Sometimes in middle school we don’t know what happens afterward. We don’t have them those four years in high school to see them mature. We’re not sure. Did it work?”

The Simi Valley Education Foundation was formed in 1989 by Lew Roth, a Simi Valley school board trustee for 23 years.

“As an art teacher, Susan has really touched a lot of lives that she’s not even aware of,” said Cindy Jacoby, the foundation’s president. “That’s how involved she is in the school. She doesn’t know what an impact she’s had on their lives. Students wrote in and told us how she built up their confidence.”

The honor has made Selvaggio reconsider her future.

“I was looking to retirement in a few years, but now I’m thinking maybe I can go on,” Selvaggio said. “This is giving me energy. It has given me a boost. I’ve always only hoped I was making a difference. That’s why I got into teaching.”

The honorees are recognized in six categories for extraordinary service to the students of the Simi Valley Unified School District.

This year’s winners are: Selvaggio; Jody Melanson of Simi Valley High School, management; Anita White of Sycamore Elementary School, classified; Sheldon Liebmann of Simi Elementary School, volunteer; Angela DeSantis of Simi Valley Unified School District, special education.

The lifetime achievement award will be presented to Diana Gonzalez of Abraham Lincoln Elementary.

The Legacy Award, an honor given to a company that has made substantial contributions to students, will be presented to Alcoa Fastening Systems.