Art Becomes Her

When Charles E. Kaylor Sr. established the ‘Excellence in the Arts’ Scholarship through the Community Foundation of Westmoreland County he hoped to foster the continuing education of a student from the Greensburg Salem School District who has demonstrated a love of, and proficiency in, the arts. Mr. Charles Kaylor, Sr.’s long career in commercial art and advertising provided the principal for this fund and his love of most art forms made logical the establishment of his legacy. “Passion, pride, drive and knowledge, individually, may not necessarily provide success, but when they are employed together, they almost always do” says Mr. Kaylor and he hopes this phrase rings true for a student hoping to be selected as the recipient of the Charles E. Kaylor Sr. Excellence in the Arts Scholarship.

Deanna DiRado a recently graduated senior from Greensburg Salem High School exemplified all of the characteristics that Mr. Kaylor hoped for…   
 
Playing clarinet and saxophone since fourth grade, Deanna, participated in marching band and concert band until graduating as a senior. Deanna was elected Clarinet Section Leader and a Senior Band Officer at Greensburg Salem High School, in addition she was selected to join the Westmoreland County Music Educators Association in her junior and senior years. In University she hopes to take part in a clarinet ensemble.  
 
In addition to music Deanna demonstrates her passion for the arts and creativity as a pottery artist. Her artwork was selected for display at the Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art, Artist of the 21st Century student art exhibit. Deanna combined her love of music with pottery, resulting in a vase with the musical notes from one of her band selections. Her other featured piece was a drawing that symbolized “everything about me” which encompassed her love of cheesecake and Mario and Luigi salt and pepper shakers.   
 
Deanna was a student athlete and captain of the high school bowling team, earning a letter all 4 years. She currently holds a 206 average and was section MVP of the Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Bowling League this past season. Deanna helped lead her team to 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place state championships and a 1st place Western PA championship. Her greatest accomplishment was a 299 game at the state tournament and realized her first perfect 300 game on Valentine’s Day 2010. She’s currently a member of the women’s bowling team at Kutztown University.
 
Deanna earned the Girl Scout’s Bronze Award, participated in the National Honor Society’s holiday gift program for underprivileged children, and volunteered for the Red Cross blood drive at her school. She has given her time and talent as a volunteer with road cleanup crews for the Pennsylvania Cleanways organization.  
 
Deanna is a National Honor Society member and is working toward a degree in mathematics and possibly a minor in music/arts at Kutztown University.
 
Deanna is pictured above although her look has changed significantly due to her donation of 10.5” inches of hair to “Locks of Love”. Locks of Love is a charitable organization that provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children in the United States and Canada under age 21 suffering from long-term medical hair loss from any diagnosis

Deanna is truly an inspriation to each and every one of us, and in the words of Mr. Kaylor, truly shows us what passion, pride, drive and knowledge can do when employed together.
 
We thank Charles Kaylor for establishing a legacy for his family and also the young people of Westmoreland County through the Charles Kaylor Sr. Excellence in Art Scholarship and the Zethel Kaylor Scholarshp for Future Educators with the Community Foundation of Westmoreland County.