"I worked closely with Ms. Silva during the entire Stanley Mural Project. I accompanied Ellen in all of her meetings with the students. We painted the mural together. Not only is she an excellent artist, she is master teacher. I have worked with children my whole life, but Ellen is patient with children, and is also talented in communicating with them! There were many times when the Stanley students were "acting up", and each time she was able to effectively redirect their energies to the project at hand.
It is absolutely fair to say she became a "pied piper" on campus, where children would light up upon seeing her, follow her around, elbow into the crowd to watch her paint with other students and want to design and participate in the painting of the mural. Throughout the project, Ellen continued to impress us with her artistic skills and love of children. Ellen is a master of detail, and a true professional. She is highly oganized. She completed the mural on time. Most importantly, she was generous, and always went an extra mile to complete a beautiful."
Elizabeth Jameson, JDL
