AUBURN - Gerri Pelc can remember clearly how her dear friend and colleague Darlene Kurczewski made young schoolchildren feel special while teaching them art at Genesee Street Elementary School.
“She was amazing at being able to see natural artistic talent in children and she really zeroed in on that,” Pelc, of Auburn, said.
“Children who didn't have that much artistic talent were made to feel that they did. If you get something from them that they put together, it may not have been a Picasso but they were proud of what they did, and she had that natural ability to get the best out of every child.”
Kurczewski, once named Art Teacher of the Year for central New York and nominated for the statewide award, dedicated two decades to the Auburn Enlarged City School District, instilling a passion for art in Genesee students' lives from the time she started in 1986 until the time she retired in 2006, when she was diagnosed with colon cancer.
Kurczewski died last month at the age of 71 after her battle with cancer, and now Pelc, who worked alongside Kurczewski as a kindergarten and pre-first teacher at Genesee Elementary, wants to make sure the memory of her longtime friend is never forgotten.
Pelc is establishing the Darlene Kurczewski Memorial Fund at the Schweinfurth Memorial Art Center in Auburn to cement Kurczewski's legacy in Auburn.
The fund will allow students to go to art camps during breaks in the school year, something Kurczewski was very passionate about, Pelc said.
When Kurczewski and Pelc were still teaching, the duo would organize Cans For Culture, can and bottle drives to finance students to go to such camps.
“With her, that was an integral part of her art program,” Pelc said.
Pelc said this was one way to honor the work of her friend.
“I felt that this would be a legacy for her, that this component of her art program would continue,” she said.
Kurczewski's love of teaching wasn't limited to the classroom. Organizing a visiting artist program and after-school and weekend seminars for her students, “She broadened their horizons at every opportunity,” Auburn Teachers Association President Sally Jo Widmer said.
She encouraged her students to express themselves - what they saw, read, heard - in various artistic mediums, Widmer said.
“She was a remarkable individual in that she could engage every single student, and it didn't matter what age you were,” she said. Widmer would often visit Kurczewski's classroom and engage in learning.
“She taught me skills that I could translate to my classroom,” she said.
“She was that good a teacher. You didn't converse with her and not be a student learning from a master.”
Staff writer Alyssa Sunkin can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 239 or alyssa.sunkin@lee.net
How to help
Donations for the Darlene Kurczewski Memorial Fund can be made to the Schweinfurth Memorial Art Center, 205 Genesee St., Auburn.
“Children who didn't have that much artistic talent were made to feel that they did. If you get something from them that they put together, it may not have been a Picasso but they were proud of what they did, and she had that natural ability to get the best out of every child.”
Kurczewski, once named Art Teacher of the Year for central New York and nominated for the statewide award, dedicated two decades to the Auburn Enlarged City School District, instilling a passion for art in Genesee students' lives from the time she started in 1986 until the time she retired in 2006, when she was diagnosed with colon cancer.
Kurczewski died last month at the age of 71 after her battle with cancer, and now Pelc, who worked alongside Kurczewski as a kindergarten and pre-first teacher at Genesee Elementary, wants to make sure the memory of her longtime friend is never forgotten.
Pelc is establishing the Darlene Kurczewski Memorial Fund at the Schweinfurth Memorial Art Center in Auburn to cement Kurczewski's legacy in Auburn.
The fund will allow students to go to art camps during breaks in the school year, something Kurczewski was very passionate about, Pelc said.
When Kurczewski and Pelc were still teaching, the duo would organize Cans For Culture, can and bottle drives to finance students to go to such camps.
“With her, that was an integral part of her art program,” Pelc said.
Pelc said this was one way to honor the work of her friend.
“I felt that this would be a legacy for her, that this component of her art program would continue,” she said.
Kurczewski's love of teaching wasn't limited to the classroom. Organizing a visiting artist program and after-school and weekend seminars for her students, “She broadened their horizons at every opportunity,” Auburn Teachers Association President Sally Jo Widmer said.
She encouraged her students to express themselves - what they saw, read, heard - in various artistic mediums, Widmer said.
“She was a remarkable individual in that she could engage every single student, and it didn't matter what age you were,” she said. Widmer would often visit Kurczewski's classroom and engage in learning.
“She taught me skills that I could translate to my classroom,” she said.
“She was that good a teacher. You didn't converse with her and not be a student learning from a master.”
Staff writer Alyssa Sunkin can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 239 or alyssa.sunkin@lee.net
How to help
Donations for the Darlene Kurczewski Memorial Fund can be made to the Schweinfurth Memorial Art Center, 205 Genesee St., Auburn.
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