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CRANBURY: Much-loved art teacher to retire

By David Kilby, Staff Writer
   CRANBURY — Tamara Woronczuk has everything a school could hope for in an art teacher — creativity, dedication, enthusiasm and genuine love of art, to mention just a few qualities.
   After over three decades of teaching art at Cranbury School, Ms. Woronczuk will be retiring at the end of this school year.
   ”She really brought the artistic talent out of my daughter,” said parent Patti Thomsson, regarding how well Ms. Woronczuk taught her daughter, Katie Thomsson.
   Students of Cranbury School started taking art with Ms. Woronczuk as early as kindergarten. She teaches painting, drawing, sculpting, pottery, crafts, and printmaking in her classes.
   She also teaches an after-school art club sponsored by the PTO twice a week for six months a year.
   Ms. Woronczuk received her bachelor’s degree from Glassboro College, now Rowan University, and her master’s degree in art, education and painting from New York University.
   Her first teaching assignment was at Ramsey High School where she taught for a year. Then she taught at Burnett Junior High School in Union, then at Summit Junior High School. From there, she moved on to Cranbury School where she has been teaching for 31 years.
   ”I’ve always said I have the best job in the world,” she said. “I’m doing what I love. Teaching art to children is inspiring and rewarding.”
   She said many of her former students who are now in high school and college still keep in touch with her.
   The most notable contact she’s had through her art career is Chuck Close, who taught Ms. Woronczuk at NYU.
   ˜r. Close is known for his large human portraits and also for continuing his art career despite being disabled. He paints on a revolving canvas so he doesn’t have to move around while painting.
   A few years ago, Ms. Woronczuk pursued the aspirations Mr. Close placed in her when she took a sabbatical for a half-year. During that time, she traveled to Paris, New Mexico and Arizona.
   She took a class in Giverny, France, the location of Claude Monet’s garden and a mainstay for impressionism just outside of Paris.
   After her sabbatical, she hosted a gallery show with 102 of her paintings in the Gourgaud Gallery in Cranbury Town Hall. She plans to host another showing with her sister, Stephanie Grabowski, in May.
   About 15 years ago, she designed the stage for Cranbury School plays such as “The Wizard of Oz,” “Peter Pan” and “Annie.” For some time, she also designed the school yearbook.
   ”The yearbook was fun,” she said.
   She brought the yearbook into the computer age, enabling pages to be edited as pdfs.
   Now she teaches 125 children a week and hardly gets a break.
   ”You need a lot of energy for this job,” she said.
   ”Since she does such creative projects, students are never bored,” said Karen Londahl, a fourth-grade teacher at Cranbury School and a close friend of Ms. Woronczuk for 10 years.
   Ms. Woronczuk said her favorite part of being an art teacher at Cranbury School is the end of the year art show when she gets to see what the kids have accomplished over the year.
   Carol Malouf, Cranbury School principal and the school district’s interim chief school administrator, has known Ms. Woronczuk since the beginning of both their careers at Cranbury School 30 years ago.
   Ms. Malouf said Ms. Woronczuk was always a creative art teacher and “always wanted to challenge the children and capitalize on their talent.”
   When students were learning about the Renaissance in other classes, Ms. Woronczuk made sure to familiarize them with the great art that came from that time period. When students were learning about Egypt, she taught them how to create little pieces of pottery like the Egyptians did, Ms. Malouf explained.
   Every year, Ms. Woronczuk thought of something new and exciting for the kids to do.
   ”She saw the art room as a place for kids to socialize and interact,” Ms. Malouf said. “She always gave kids the opportunity to explore, expand and experiment in the art room.”
   Ms. Malouf explained how well Ms. Woronczuk organizes her classes. Her students know exactly what they need and where to find it. They know exactly what to do, and they work together at the art tables. Everything from beginning their projects to cleaning up is done in orderly fashion, Ms. Malouf explained.
   ”She’s always floating around the room. I don’t think Tamara ever sat,” she said. “Over the years she’s gone above and beyond.”
   When the school was constructing additions in 1997 and 2003, Ms. Woronczuk asked for strips to be placed along the hallway walls so the students’ artwork can be displayed all around the school.
   ”I can talk about Tamara forever,” Ms. Malouf said. “She’s got enthusiasm. She’s able to get even the most reluctant student to relax, imagine and create. She’s going to be tough to replace.”
   Ms. Woronczuk may be leaving the world of art teaching, but she’s not packing away her art gear for good.
   ”I plan to travel and I plan to paint” once she retires, she said.