By Robert Remler
The art of living and teaching
Jane Berzner gives back with spirit
She has a three page resume and knew she wanted to be an art teacher in the ninth grade.
Twenty-seven years after beginning to teach, her adrenaline still kicks in when she gets in front of a class, said Jane Berzner, art teacher at the Brooklyn Avenue and William L. Buck Schools in Valley Stream District 24.
Her lessons must be consistently great because last year the long time resident of Woodmere received the New York Art Educator of the Year award from the New York Art Teachers Association. Along with that accolade, Berzner has served as president of the Long Island Art Teachers Association, is on the board the New York State Arts Teachers Association and has helped design a state-wide art assessment program, the Portfolio Project.
"I think you need to give back to the profession," said Berzner. "In the beginning you pay your dues. After you pay your dues it's time to give back." The need to give back is especially important in art education "because we are in such a tenuous place sometimes," said Berzner.
A visit to the Berzner home shows just how much she appreciates art. Not one wall is without a piece of art, whether it's a colossal painting of thoroughbred horses racing down the homestretch or a black-feathered white mask with gold paint covering the eyes.
"Art education is valuable to every child," she says. "Not all children can learn by reading. Some children are very visual. When you bring in cultures and history into the classroom through art it gives the students a different perspective."
Jane Berzner has taught art for 15 years in Valley Stream. She taught high school students in Lawrence, Baldwin and at Bellmore-Merrick Central High School before that.
"I think all children are able to create art." She said she has a toy bear in her classroom that wears a t-shirt with the words 'Can do.' She points to that bear when a child tells says he or she can't do something; she tells them she would never ask them to do something they couldn't.
Recounting stories about students succeeding in her classroom puts a smile on Berzner's face as she sat in her kitchen next to her husband, Robert. "There is a joy in seeing those lights go on in their heads," said Berzner. Like when a student mixed together white and red paint to get pink for the first time. "Or, when they put together a pattern and the pattern works in what they are trying to do... It's just a wonderful feeling."
Displaying artwork in schools and school board rooms is part of Berzner's job. She compared the art displays to when a band performs. "When the band plays they make a lot of noise," said Berzner. "When you do art you don't see what happens from beginning to end. That's why I think it's important to highlight all the students' work at all times."
Berzner considers today's group of students more manageable than those from 20 years ago. "We allow them to become risk takers," she said.
Demonstrating how she gets children to take risks, Berzner suddenly starts sounding like a teacher addressing a classroom filled with students. "Okay, I want you to do something with that line. Create it into a picture so the line becomes part of the picture but not the most important thing in the picture. And your picture," said Berzner, "has to be different from everybody else in the room and give it a title."
Getting students to become risk takers or even getting them to experiment with art allows them to be more productive citizens later on in life, she says.
While she intends to continue teaching for another 10 to 15 years, Berzner is laying plans for the distant future. Soon she will start earning credits for an administrative degree at Stony Brook University. She wants to work with other art educators and get involved in writing curriculum throughout the state someday.
Berzner's ambitions don't surprise her husband. "She kind of lives it," Robert said about his wife's devotion to art. "She is a very strong proponent of art education. She puts in a lot of time. She is very focused in what she does."
