Music Center Will Salute 2 Arts Educators

Ten teachers are vying for the seventh annual Bravo awards, to be presented March 6 by the education division of the Music Center.

Center spokeswoman Connie A. Rivera said the awards “recognize educators who have demonstrated outstanding achievement in arts education.” Two awards will be presented, one to an arts specialist and one to a classroom teacher “who has demonstrated outstanding leadership and creativity in incorporating the arts into a traditional curriculum,” Rivera said.

The finalists were chosen from 97 candidates nominated by their principals.

They are: Taffy Patton, sixth-grade teacher, Vena Avenue Elementary Magnet School, Pacoima, Los Angeles Unified School District; Robin Share, drama specialist, Van Nuys High School, Los Angeles Unified School District, and Jo Ness, dance specialist, Glendale High School, Glendale Unified School District.

Others are Barrie Becker, dance/drama specialist, Dorothy Kirby Center School, Los Angeles County Juvenile Court and Community Schools; Gabriel Bernstein, third-grade teacher, Vista San Gabriel Elementary School, Palmdale, Wilsona School District; Judith G. Bohlen, music specialist, Long Beach Unified School District, and Amelia Crawford, kindergarten teacher, Eugene Field Elementary School, Pasadena Unified School District.

More are Gale Gomez Shafer, art specialist, Bell High School, Los Angeles Unified School District; Phila McDaniel, art specialist, Gardena High School, Los Angeles Unified School District; and Stephen Sarinana-Lampson, art specialist, Abraham Lincoln High School, Los Angeles Unified School District.

The finalists will be visited in their classrooms by a panel of judges that includes educators and artists.

Last year’s winners were Shanon Fitzpatrick of Morse Elementary School in Placentia, and Herb Holland of Audubon Junior High School in Los Angeles.