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Jane Montero honored as the 2025 DIG Outstanding Educator of the Year!
Jane Montero has taught middle level art for 35 years and currently serves as President of the Michigan Art Education Association. She also represents the Middle Division for NAEA’s EDI Commission. In 2023, Jane received the Outstanding Teaching award from the National Art Education Association’s (NAEA) Art Media Technology Interest Group, and was Michigan’s Middle Level Art Educator of the Year and NAEA’s National Middle Level Art Educator of the Year, 2021-2022. She is a 2019 graduate of NAEA’s School for Art Leaders. Jane has presented virtually, internationally, nationally, and at state conferences. She has written numerous articles for School Arts magazine and co-authored the February 2024 Design Issue. Jane’s most recent paper titled “Revolutionizing Creativity: Unleashing the Power of AI in Upper Elementary Art Education” was presented at the Artificial Intelligence in Education Technology (AIET) international conference in Barcelona, Spain, and received an award for best presentation.
Doris Wells-Papanek earns the 2024 DIG Outstanding Educator Award
As Founder and Director of the Design Learning Network, Doris Wells-Papanek, M.Ed., collaborates with diverse sets of partners around the globe. Doris is passionate about Empathy from Diverse Perspectives, the Art of Being Curious, and Responsible AI Design. Using a creative problem-solving approach, Doris is accomplished at co-constructing shared visions, tackling complex challenges, and striving for positive impact. She loves leading cross-organizational collaborations, facilitating teams inspired by diverse perspectives, and developing purposeful professional development.
She has years of experience in leadership and UX design with Apple, Athena Health, Xerox, Hewlett Packard, Intuit, Siemens, and Philips. She often mentors students and facilitates workshops at Carnegie Mellon University, the Kansas City Art Institute, the University of Illinois, Auburn University, and the University of Lincoln in the UK. Doris holds a master’s in Curriculum and Instruction Design, focused on Action Research from National Louis University. She has a bachelor’s in Product and Environmental Design from the Kansas City Art Institute and School of Design.
Deborah Parizek Honored as DIG’s 2023 Outstanding Design Educator
We were excited to honor Deborah Parizek as our 2023 NAEA Outstanding Design Educator. Deborah is the Executive Director for the Henry Ford Learning Institute. She is a nonprofit leader and educator with 25 years of experience in dynamic learning environments. She drives HFLI’s efforts to deliver immersive learning experiences that pair effective education and human-centered design approaches, empowering learners to lead transformational change in, with and for their community. She is known for cultivating the conversations, empathy, and capacity critical to addressing complex challenges, as demonstrated by HFLI's powerful inclusive and participatory models for learning that include innovative, community-supported schools in three major US cities.
Kristen LaJeunesse Roach and Matt Winkelman, DIG’s 2022 jointly awarded Design Educators of the Year
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