DiSanto recognized in Scholastic Arts Spotlight

NEWARK - When Newark High School senior Jordan DiSanto was quite young, he remembers occasionally going inside the closet in his bedroom and drawing stick figures with his mother's lipstick on the wall behind where his clothing hung.

DiSanto - who recently had the distinction of being one of about 20 high school students this school year to be chosen from thousands of applicants in Orleans, Ontario, Wayne, Monroe and Genesee counties to be recognized in WROC's News Channel 8's Scholastic Arts Spotlight - recalled, with a smile, that, at some point, he realized his mother, Margaret DiSanto, knew about the drawings.

But by not saying anything about them to him, he said he believes she not only treasured them but was trying to encourage his youthful artistic expression.

Renee Bailey, DiSanto's art teacher at Newark High School for three years, nominated him for the Channel 8 recognition. She said DiSanto hasn't lost his uninhibited childhood imagination when it comes to art, and that quality allows him the freedom to be very creative.

'He can find art in just about anything, but is always creating,' she said of DiSanto, who is currently in her Advanced Placement drawing class. 'There is never a dull moment working with Jordan. He knows he has a talent, but he continues to work very hard. He pushes himself. He doesn't like to do what other people are doing. And he doesn't like to be copied. But he is humble and willing to help others and offer suggestions.'

DiSanto, whose grade-point average last year was 95.22, plays soccer year-round, as well as tennis. He said his dream job would be to become an animator someday for a company like Pixar Animation Studios.

He's been accepted at four colleges, including Rochester Institute of Technology. He said that if he goes to RIT, he will study imaging arts and computer animation.

Danielle McGavisk, DiSanto's school counselor, said she is very pleased about him being recognized by Channel 8.

'Jordan is a great student and a great kid,' she said.

Danielle and Mike McGavisk, who teaches physical education at Newark High School, live in the home DiSanto lived in as a boy. When Danielle was repainting what used to be Jordan's bedroom, she couldn't bring herself to paint over the drawings in the closet.

'I couldn't paint over Jordan's drawings - he was a budding artist at a very young age,' she said.

top of page

Copyright © 2009
Courier-Gazette, 613 S. Main St. Newark, N.Y. 14513 - 315-331-1000
All Rights Reserved