Irene Peterson

Some girls get intimidated by Math, but not by their ballet lessons. But it's all about recognizing a pattern. Sometimes if you can draw that connection to something familiar, it breaks the fear.

Irene Peterson, mother and materials engineer at Corning, Inc.

Irene Peterson is the mother of two sons, both of whom are students at Center Street. In addition to being a parent, she works as a materials engineer at Corning Inc. Irene is pleased that her children attend Center Street School. She reports that the school helps to instill curiosity, perseverance, collaboration and respect for knowledge in her children. For example, the 4th graders painted a mural together as a gift to the school for their graduation which showed their creativity, required a lot of effort and also showed respect for their school. To see pictures of the many murals in the school and to read more about Irene's thoughts about them, check out http://www.gstboces.org/iss/artsineducation/Center%20Street.htm.

Irene also appreciates the fact that the Center Street staff is very creative and hard working and the teachers really try to bring out the best in individual students - they try to understand the characters of the individual students; one of her son's teachers even asked Irene to write a letter about him so she could get to know him better. The teachers work very hard. The principal (Patricia Sotero) and the Center Street staff are very supportive of parent involvement, and they create a lot of opportunities for the students, staff and parents to have fun together such as the Fall Festival and open school night. They put a lot of effort into building a sense of community in the school. Irene likes the fact that they emphasize character development and have a broad view of education and that they understand the importance of recess and gym, art and music. Different subjects to learn incorporate different ways to learn. Irene also is grateful for the many field trips her sons have enjoyed through the years. "Field trips teach students to learn through their own experience about the outside world and teaches them how to learn outside the classroom." Center Street students are fortunate to be involved with the Chemung River School Project sponsored by the Arnot Art Museum.

Art education is important to you and your children because it allows them to create beauty, to learn about other cultures, to learn that perseverance brings improvement and to appreciate and to enjoy the talents of others. It also exposes them to other cultures. Activities such as the orchestra and band teach them how to lend their talents to projects larger than themselves. The arts make the world a better place because they build friendships, develop an appreciation of talents of others, break stereotypes, helps students learn about and appreciate other cultures, learn new ways of viewing the world and of expressing themselves.

Given Irene's career path as an engineer, it may seem surprising to learn that Irene's favorite subjects were art and music. "Some girls get intimidated by Math, but not by their ballet lessons. But it's all about recognizing a pattern. Sometimes if you can draw that connection to something familiar, it breaks the fear." Irene especially loves music and to sing.

Another thing that has enhanced her appreciation for the arts is her love of travel. Traveling has taken her to four different continents including Europe, Asia, Australia and North America.

When Irene travelled to Japan, for example, she spent some time exploring Zen Gardens. She was struck by the rhythmic patterns in the gravel. The gravel patterns were designed to imitate water which made her think about how the mind can transform what it sees. The naturalistic style of the Japanese gardens was in contrast to the formal straight lines present in English style gardens, but also stunning. Everything in the landscape was planned and had artistic meaning, but even across cultures, it was possible to appreciate the artistic vision even without understanding the cultural context. It made her curious to learn more about the cultural context, so the arts can be an invitation to learn more about other people in the world. It made her wonder "why that pattern... you can tell there are stories there - all people tell stories - it's a very human thing. People tell stories through art or music and they did so before there was language."

In sum, Center Street School is an outstanding educational institution not only because of an excellent administration and staff, but students who are fortunate to have parents who understand, appreciate and support the arts in education!