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"Don't tell.I.Gillars you are not artistic,that you cannot draw. prove you wrong,
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and you'll leave her class with new-found confidence.Her class is the one students look
forward to every day because she has the ability to reach every student at every level.
Happy retirement,Ms.Gillars.The students you taught the last thirty-four years are
lucky to have known you!"-Wanda O'Neil
"Do you know D.Gillars%Perhaps you know her as Deborah.She is the best art high
school teacher in the state of Florida,you know:Perhaps the best in the USA but since
I haven't had contact with all schools in the USA I can only predict that it is so.We
both arrived as teachers at Zephyrhills Junior High the same year,fall of 1978.She
was younger then and beautiful,but more beautiful now. Everyone agrees with that.
She was beginning her teaching career and already had the students in her heart and
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ore went about planning and developing her curriculum to bring out the best in them.Fast
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forward to the time when learning communities were the new and innovative chal-
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4l lenge of the day.We were in one of the original learning communities,with fine arts
Q, as our common theme.It was an exciting time for me to be in the planning stage with
-„ Deborah and the others in that community as we worked to integrate our disciplines
/4 t-. , and to help the students understand the connections in what we were presenting in our
„,/ 4' individual classes.The work that the students did under her instruction was amazing
during those years.In fact,it was always amazing.The self-portraits that her third year
`.' ..rff"^ fr students produced through the years were added to her ceiling tiles and eventually the
y: 4„ , a�pd"`°" entire ceiling was covered with really great art.The ZHS art club annually visited the
Winter Haven art show and the officers of the club had an assignment for the day.They
° ``"�"? were to visit all the exhibits and choose one piece to purchase from the art club funds
J h,4. to be donated to the high school,thus beginning an art collection of note that now
. p can be seen in the school. Deborah's art is not limited to her work in the classroom.
During her years in the classroom she also agreed to become a building representative
r..,, £ ,or e4 J.4f and during those years she taught the rest of us the art of communication.She knew
/ J p how to participate in discussions and find a satisfactory solution even before the topic
41 fee at hand could become a problem for those concerned.Her humor and grace kept the
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4a t/ f mood of our meetings friendly and enabled us to sec each other in favorable fight.I
' • ' �r don't understand how ZHS can let Deborah retire.The space that is left when she is
no longer the art teacher will be enormous and the person hired will learn to do the
job with his or her own style and grace.I wish for that person the great success that
LV- �/. , Deborah has enjoyed.She is truly extraordinary and has made all of our lives better by
-- Y '-' her being there."-Diane Nelson
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