Mrs. Aceino: Artistic Legacy
At the beginning of a new semester, students file down the basement stairs, slowly filling in the seats of the spacious art room. As their teacher walks around the room, she asks them: “Do you think you are good at art?” At the start of each of her art classes, Mrs. Donna Aceino asks this question in preparation for an upcoming semester full of artistic growth.
Throughout her time at Eastern Christian High School, Mrs. Aceino’s passion for art has always shone through her teaching. Her dedication to the art program and the students in it is very well-appreciated in the Eastern Christian community.
In every class she taught, whether it was Art I or Advanced Portfolio classes, she maintained the philosophy that “everyone has creative abilities that they can develop and grow. No matter what level they are at, there is always space to learn and improve upon that.”
Mrs. Aceino made it a point to always remind her students that they could create because they are the children of the most powerful creator, God. She remarked that although God has given everyone different abilities and talents, everybody is creative in some capacity.
When inquired about her most cherished memories from teaching at Eastern Christian, she responded that “watching their lights go on and seeing the look on their faces when they were able to do something they thought they weren’t able to do is something that will always hold a place in my heart and in my mind.”
Mrs. Aceino’s favorite memories also included the ability to make the community come together at events like the winter and spring art shows, competitions, and individual prizes that were won by her students.
Even when students thought they had no artistic ability, she helped them realize that they could indeed create artwork they previously thought they were not capable of creating.
Although she is no longer teaching at Eastern Christian, Mrs. Aceino still carries her passion for art, teaching, and God. In the absence of her teaching, Mrs. Aceino has elected to take this opportunity to spend time with her family and get back into her previous hobby of photography.
In addition to her hobbies and family, Mrs. Aceino has also played with the idea of making her own devotional book with her photographs and scripture as a way to weave her walk with the Lord into her artworks.
Her words to her students are to “always look at things knowing that everything is rich with creativity and all different abilities can be used in all areas of your life”.
While we miss Mrs. Aceino’s teaching dearly, we wish her the best of luck in everything she does and appreciate everything she has done for the art program and for her students.