V'Ann and Dramatic Results (posted by Christi Wilkins)

I had just finished my first walk through of the Origami exhibition at the Mingei in 2005 with tears rolling down my face. All of a sudden, a woman appeared out of nowhere and asked if I was all right . While she looked concerned at my obvious emotional outpouring, her look of concern turned to a smile that grew larger and larger as I explained why I was crying. "You see," I told her, "these pieces are just SO fantastic and moving that I feel the same way I did the first time I walked through Falling Water. I HAVE to bring this art form to my students and I want to do it as a way to teach them math." After offering me Kleenex (clearly a woman who was always prepared!), she said, "My name is V'Ann Cornelius and I work here at the Mingei. Perhaps I can help you."

Well -- needless to say -- I learned that V'Ann's idea of "helping someone" gave new definition to the term. Thanks to V'Ann's vision, generosity of spirit, time and creativity, her compassion, patience, humor (so, so dry) and gentle re-directing (great teaching technique), origami is now part of an integrated art program for elementary and middle school students called "InCreasing Math." Because of V'Ann's enormous help (along with the support and technical skill of Arnold Tubis, Galen Pickett and several others), origami is becoming known among K-12 educators in Southern California and has directly been used as a math integrated curriculum with more than 250 students, with another 500 to be served just this year. After demonstrating double digit gains in math performance (via CST scores), more schools, states and corporations are supporting this program. Thanks to V'Ann, origami has become recognized as an art form and now as an educational tool to engage students in the real life application of learning math. V'Ann was such a GIFT to all of us at Dramatic Results. Her name and legacy will live on in students' lives for many years to come. Thank you for sharing yourself, V'Ann.

Christi Wilkins, Dramatic Results