13 Aquinas art teacher and fine arts department chair, Lorin Easton, earned special recognition alongside former AQ student Vanesa Chiodo ’18. Vanesa, a recent graduate of The Rochester Institute of Technology, was the recipient of RIT’s Outstanding Undergraduate Scholar (OUS) Award, which celebrates the top 1% of undergraduate students who achieve academic excellence while also giving back to the community through civic or volunteer work. Recipients of the OUS Award select a high school teacher who had a profound influence on their academic development and has been an inspiration in their life to formally recognize at the awards ceremony. Vanesa selected art teacher Lorin Easton as that influential person. “It was due to Mrs. Eason that I fell in love with the beauty of art and its ability to capture emotions and tell stories. I never would have guessed that I would eventually pursue a career in art and if I had never had the honor of getting to know and learn from Mrs. Easton, I am certain that my future would be extraordinarily different,” said Vanessa in an acknowledgement read at the OUS awards ceremony, which Mrs. Easton attended. “I am beyond blessed to be nominated as Vanesa’s honored high school teacher,” said Mrs. Easton. She is an amazing person and I look forward to seeing what’s next for her.” Vanesa, who majored in museum studies at RIT, is now a student at the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University. She hopes to pursue a career in art law. Chiodo ’18 Earns RIT Honors, Selects Mrs. Easton as Distinguished Teacher Lynd Scholars Reunion Picnic Several Lynd Scholars got together over the summer at AQ to catch up with Kathy and Ed ‘52 Lynd who have generously supported several student scholarships over the years. In fact, the couple has awarded 43 students from the Classes of 2000 – 2022 who have been the recipients of the prestigious Kathleen L. Lynd Leadership Award and the Kevin P. Lynd ‘80 Memorial Scholarship. These scholarships are awarded to two rising seniors each year who demonstrate personal character, loyalty to Aquinas, academic excellence, and leadership amongst peers. Kathy and Ed’s love, support and loyalty is greatly appreciated! New AP Course at AQ If you page through Aquinas’ Course of Studies, you will notice a new addition to our Advanced Placement (AP) offerings this school year. AP Art and Design, which was piloted during the 2021-2022 school year with just three students, is officially the 14th Advanced Placement course currently being offered to Aquinas students. This an intense introductory collegelevel design course led by Aquinas art teacher and fine arts department chair, Mrs. Lorin Easton. Ellise Gatti ‘23, one of the students chosen for the pilot program – and no stranger to taking AP courses – knew immediately that this was something she wanted to be part of. “I love art and I love drawing, that’s always been my thing,” she said. “What I found really cool about the course was focusing only on 2D digital art. Being new to digital art made it a little more difficult, but it was really fun.” The course takes students through a two-section structure including the sustained investigation, which requires that students conduct an inquiry-guided investigation of one big idea through art research, practice, experimentation, and revisions; and the selected works section that demonstrates skillful synthesis of materials, processes, and ideas. Both sections require written explanations of the work. Students then submit to either the AP Drawing or the AP 2D Art and Design exam and depending on their score, will hopefully earn college credit. Ellise plans to study business in college, but would like to take courses in art as well. “This definitely helped me figure out how to draw what I feel and express emotion more through art,” said Ellise. “I would recommend this course to anyone who is interested in art, not just good at it.”
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