May is Honor Older American Month.  I am dedicating this column to honoring the many wonderful women who are using this bonus time in their lives to blaze trails filled with creativity.  Many of us, like Carol Varsalona, embraced creativity as a natural part of our lives and now continue to invent and reinvent new avenues for that creativity during this portion of our lives.

Carol Varsalona is an ELA consultant.  She has had extensive experience as a districtwide director of language arts, literacy specialist/reading teacher, national/state conference presenter, grant writer, and a staff developer in multiple Long Island school districts.  Carol’s accomplishment’s in the academic world are endless and would take up this whole page but I would like to introduce to you to Carol’s blog, beyondliteracylink.blogspot.com.  At this blog Carol creates a space for digital compositions of her own and also creates a global gallery and welcomes submissions to this gallery from other bloggers.  Carol is very generous with her time and encouragement with other bloggers.  She leads the way inviting others not to be afraid of combining creativity with technology.  What follows is Carol’s own words regarding what the creative arts have meant to her:

Creative arts always intrigued me but seeing life through a lens challenged me. My digital art work pathway started when I was in college. From then to now, I have grown to appreciate the photographer’s perspective. Throughout my educational career from teacher to administrator to consultant, I have always sought creativity as an outlet to inspire others. I learned that through the lens we can develop a keen eye. Observation leads to inquiry. From there the path opens to a world of wonder where voice has the opportunity to dig deeper, showcasing the murmurings of the heart.

Because creativity and voice are imperative in this world of changing perspectives, my digital galleries grew. Today, nine galleries later, I continue to explore digital literacy in its various formats through my individual digital compositions and my online global galleries of artistic expressions. With a photographer’s eye, an artist’s renderings, and a poet’s love of words and feelings, a new gallery, Spring’s Seeds, will evolve connecting the arts, technology, and poetry. The power of voice captures varying perspectives on nature and inspiration. This season as seeds of springtime joy will be spread, a garden of poetry will develop.

My passion for creative writing and photography have spurred me on to encourage others, especially students, to find their voices through artistic expressions. Creation of digital inspirations, thoughtful compositions of original art work or photography embedded with poetic thoughts, synthesize the experience of viewing life through a lens. Sharing the digital work is equally as important as creating it for in the shared experience, the individual voice blends with others to form a collective chorus of positivity for mankind.

Carol

Carol Varsalona
ELA Consultant
Co-Moderator of #NYEDChat
Wonder Lead Ambassador
1430 Surrey Lane, Rockville Centre, NY 11570
(516) 317-8306 (C)
Blog: beyondliteracylink.blogspot.com
Twitter: @cvarsalona

CAROL VARSALONA YOU ROCK

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THIS POST WILL STAY OPEN UNTIL MIDNIGHT TUESDAY NIGHT.