Quakertown teacher named Secondary Art Educator of Year

Amy Migliore, digital design teacher at Quakertown Community High School, has been named Pennsylvania Art Education Association 2019 Secondary Art Educator of the Year.

Migliore, well known as an innovative educator and in demand as a speaker at university conferences, has been an art teacher in the district for 19 years.

“This is both validating and humbling,” she said. “Validating because we work in a nonprofit service profession where we invest our time and ideas into students. It’s nice to see it’s appreciated and has made an impact. It’s humbling because you receive these awards only when you’ve been championed and helped by permission granters and people who rally around you.”

Kristine Fontes, a former art educator and PAEA member, is one of those champions. Fontes has worked closely with Migliore for nearly a decade, and nominated her for the award. She describes Migliore as “an inspiration.”

“Amy is fun, bubbly and inspiring,” Fontes said. “She is right on top of anything that’s new in the art world, and that benefits her students. Amy gives them free rein, supplies them with the stuff to work with and says go crazy with it. And the results are beautiful.”

Dr. Heather Leah Ryerson Fountain, professor emeritus in the Department of Art Education and Crafts at Kutztown University, calls Migliore “a woman of great integrity, intelligence, passion, and heart.”

In a letter to the PAEA Awards Committee, she wrote: “One of the things I most respect about Amy is that she is constantly seeking new opportunities to learn and grow as an artist and teacher, so that she can provide the best insights and opportunities to her students.

“In addition to current topics and pedagogy in art education, Amy is adept at many areas such as technology, design, research and innovation; knowledge which she generously shares with others.”

A graduate of Kutztown University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree and an art education certificate, Migliore received a Master of Science in educational technology from Wilkes University. She is presently working on her doctorate in art education, with a minor in curriculum and instruction from Penn State University.