BRAVO AWARDS TO THOSE WHO KNOW THAT TEACHING IS AN ART.

Byline: Lisa M. Sodders Staff Writer

A San Fernando Valley teacher and an Eagle Rock elementary school were honored this week as Bravo Award winners for their work incorporating the arts in education.

Second-grade teacher Valerie Plaisance, of Welby Way school in West Hills, was honored in the general education category, and Rockdale Elementary School in Eagle Rock was honored in the schools category.

Nearly 550 people attended the 24th annual Bravo Awards ceremony Tuesday at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel. The awards, given by the Music Center of Los Angeles County, honor educators and schools that use the arts to revitalize teaching, enhance student achievement and foster self-esteem, teamwork and cross-cultural communication and understanding.

``I feel like I'm having my own personal 'Starry Night,''' said Plaisance, 54, of Woodland Hills, referring to the famous Vincent Van Gogh painting. ``They gave us time to celebrate everybody (at the award ceremony) and we got great glimpses of what everyone was doing, including all the nominees.''

Gigi Edler, Welby Way's principal, said Plaisance serves as the school's fine arts chairwoman and mentors both new and seasoned teachers at the school.

``It's really an honor for all of us here; we're really proud of her,'' Edler said.

Plaisance, a 31-year educator, was given $4,000, and said she would probably spend some of it on art supplies for her class, who passed around Plaisance's trophy Wednesday and hugged it.

``The students and I were brainstorming (earlier) - 'What will we do if we win?' and they said they want some real paint - not tempura,'' she said. ``They would like to experience oil painting, acrylic painting, paint on easels and have display boards to have a proper art show in the spring.''

Michele Riggs-Jackson, a dance teacher at Fairgrove Academy in the Hacienda/La Puente Unified School District, also won $4,000 in the art specialist category. Rockdale tied with McKinley School in Pasadena; each school will receive $5,000.

Rockdale Principal Desiree De Bond Vargas said she was elated and very proud of her teachers and staff ``because they so deserve it.'' The money will help the school support and enhance its arts program.

``It's so nice to have art in the schools back on the public radar,'' De Bond Vargas said. ``So often schools get reduced to just a number when our (test) scores are put out there. It doesn't' show the breadth, the depth, the exciting parts of what goes on every single day here in school.''

``Without students learning the arts as well as learning through the arts, the learning is not complete. The arts help us reach every single learner.''

Lisa M. Sodders, [phone]

lisa.sodders(at)dailynews.com