Anne Bernard is the principal at Elm Street School in the Waverly School District and, fortunately for the young people in the elementary schools,  she is one administrator who fully comprehends the value of the arts in education.  This is because she comes from a family that was immersed in the arts.  As a girl,  she herself studied the piano and viola.  "Playing the viola gave me an appreciation for how difficult it is and today I love music and attend concerts frequently."  She also took ballet and had more than the usual exposure to the visual arts.  Her father, in fact,  was an art and art history professor at SUNY Binghamton.  In the photo above,  Anne is standing in front of one of his paintings on display in her office.  She chose this painting to adorn her office because the name of the school is "Elm Street."  Although Anne's father predicted that she would be the one of her three siblings to pursue art, she turned out to be the only one who did not!  Her brother, on the other hand,  is now a sculptor who teaches at a university and her sister, trained as an artist, uses her artistic skills in her daily life. 

Yet Anne's life is still filled with art which is very lucky for Anne's students at Elm Street School. Anne even had much to do with revitalizing the beautiful, but very old building that houses the school. "When I first came here, the walls were all pale blue or green," according to Anne. " I wanted to bring color to the schools.  Color can alter moods and restore a sense of pride in the school." Students and visitors to the school are now delighted to find walls in bright, warm colors. There is also a new sign  that is now placed in the front of the school.  She also made the wolverine (school symbol) paw prints that decorate the walls.

Waverly students and staff now benefit from the fact that Anne does the arts programming for the Waverly Elementary Schools.  This year,  Waverly students will be treated to Tri-Cities Opera and Ithaca Brass coming into their schools.  Ann tries to arrange for "whole-school" performances as opposed to those geared at only a few.  Moreover,  5th and 6th graders will get to visit the Rockwell Museum in Corning along with the Corning Museum of Glass. "I would like to see more and more opportunities for children to be exposed to the arts. "   

She began her career in education when, at the age of 36, she decided to go back to school after spending many years as a stay-at-home Mom and managing the books for her husband's business.  At the age of 38,  she began teaching fourth grade in the Johnson City School District, a position she would love. "I loved teaching it all, especially math, because it comes so easy to me, and yet is hard for so many children to grasp."  It took a lot of research into various teaching strategies to find the right techniques to impart mathematical skills to her students, but eventually, Anne became the person other teachers would consult for math teaching strategies in their own classroom.   Anne really eschewed "teaching to the test," preferring, instead to teach them what they need to know - not hammering in them what's on the test.  It's a philosophy she continues to use as an administrator.

Anne, who is very goal oriented, enjoyed education and knew that she wanted to remain in the field, but wanted to grow.  Since she loved children and education so much,  Anne decided to become an administrator.  Administration simply fits her "skills set."  "It's non-stop decision making, organization and people skills."   When asked if she misses teaching,  she responds "I do big teaching...I have the biggest classroom."   

 "If a job was a pair of shoes, this one fits!" 

Fortunately for students at Elm Street School,  Anne is a perfect fit for Waverly!