Marion Crandall Maloney
A Phi Beta Kappa graduate from the Rhode Island School of Design in 1934, Marion Crandall Maloney first taught art in Scituate, Rhode Island, with a starting salary of $1,300 per year and four years later was promoted to Art Supervisor for the Scituate school system.
Moving to Branford in 1941, Miss Crandall was hired to teach mechanical drawing, blueprint reading, and art at the same pay as her first-year salary. A year later she was promoted to K-12 Art Supervisor, and her impact on the art curriculum was immediate and profound. She created curriculum guides that resulted in "group projects and exhibitions" that were displayed throughout the town's schools and public buildings. When Branford High School discovered Miss Crandall's talent, she was recruited to design sets and murals for the annual productions, a practice she continued for many years.
In 1945, Miss Crandall married William Maloney, who later established a Branford business as a painting contractor. That same year Mrs. Maloney's salary was increased to $2,275 for her combined duties of teaching and curriculum supervision. For the next several years, Mrs. Maloney single-handedly provided art instruction for all Branford students, traveling from school to school each day. Consequently the trunk of her car became a treasure house of art materials. Colleagues affectionately teased her about the amazing lesson plans that came out of that trunk, and her husband competed for storage space for paint and supplies as the Maloney house became a museum of art projects.
Very civic minded throughout her career, Mrs. Maloney was a charter member of and active participant in the Teacher's League, Woman's Club, Musical Art Society, and Delta Kappa Gamma. Her civic consciousness caught the attention of Joe Trapasso; and the Recreation Department, together with Mrs. Maloney’s art students, initiated the Halloween Art Painting Contest, a popular event that continued for many years and drew the attention of school systems throughout New England. A not her event that proved popular in the community was Mrs. Maloney's annual art exhibit, usually held in the spring, when students would display their best work throughout the schools. It was not uncommon to see every inch of every wall in every school covered with student art, as a large number of parents and community members toured the schools to admire the students' creative efforts.
As Branford's enrollment increased in the late fifties, Mrs. Maloney chose to remain at the K-8 level. A snapshot of her lesson plans reveals her efforts to integrate art into other curriculum areas with themes such as model towns, foreign countries, children of the world, holidays and seasons, farming, and forms of communication. Clearly ahead of her time in curriculum design, Mrs. Maloney was always the first choice as a mentor for student teachers.
In the late sixties, with enrollment still growing and the demand for more art teachers increasing, Mrs. Maloney was tapped to explore the design of the Applied Arts area of the soon-to-be-built Intermediate School. Rising to the challenge, she researched the approach to middle-school art throughout the country, reading incessantly and visiting schools throughout New England before devising a design plan approved by architect Earl Carlin for the area now called the Marion Crandall Maloney Applied Arts Area.
Marion Maloney enjoyed teaching right up to the end of her 37-year career in 1978. In the early seventies she had for the first time added weaving to the applied arts curriculum; and after retirement she continued taking evening and summer courses in weaving, ceramics, jewelry, and painting.
Beyond her many important tangible contributions to the Branford Public Schools, Marion Crandall Maloney's most significant contributions live on in the students she taught. She provided all her students with the knowledge that they were capable, responsible, and valued human beings. To those who knew her best, she was regarded as one of the most positive, caring, and compassionate educators to serve the profession. Perhaps this is why she is so affectionately remembered today by the thousands of students who were touched by her teaching.
Moving to Branford in 1941, Miss Crandall was hired to teach mechanical drawing, blueprint reading, and art at the same pay as her first-year salary. A year later she was promoted to K-12 Art Supervisor, and her impact on the art curriculum was immediate and profound. She created curriculum guides that resulted in "group projects and exhibitions" that were displayed throughout the town's schools and public buildings. When Branford High School discovered Miss Crandall's talent, she was recruited to design sets and murals for the annual productions, a practice she continued for many years.
In 1945, Miss Crandall married William Maloney, who later established a Branford business as a painting contractor. That same year Mrs. Maloney's salary was increased to $2,275 for her combined duties of teaching and curriculum supervision. For the next several years, Mrs. Maloney single-handedly provided art instruction for all Branford students, traveling from school to school each day. Consequently the trunk of her car became a treasure house of art materials. Colleagues affectionately teased her about the amazing lesson plans that came out of that trunk, and her husband competed for storage space for paint and supplies as the Maloney house became a museum of art projects.
Very civic minded throughout her career, Mrs. Maloney was a charter member of and active participant in the Teacher's League, Woman's Club, Musical Art Society, and Delta Kappa Gamma. Her civic consciousness caught the attention of Joe Trapasso; and the Recreation Department, together with Mrs. Maloney’s art students, initiated the Halloween Art Painting Contest, a popular event that continued for many years and drew the attention of school systems throughout New England. A not her event that proved popular in the community was Mrs. Maloney's annual art exhibit, usually held in the spring, when students would display their best work throughout the schools. It was not uncommon to see every inch of every wall in every school covered with student art, as a large number of parents and community members toured the schools to admire the students' creative efforts.
As Branford's enrollment increased in the late fifties, Mrs. Maloney chose to remain at the K-8 level. A snapshot of her lesson plans reveals her efforts to integrate art into other curriculum areas with themes such as model towns, foreign countries, children of the world, holidays and seasons, farming, and forms of communication. Clearly ahead of her time in curriculum design, Mrs. Maloney was always the first choice as a mentor for student teachers.
In the late sixties, with enrollment still growing and the demand for more art teachers increasing, Mrs. Maloney was tapped to explore the design of the Applied Arts area of the soon-to-be-built Intermediate School. Rising to the challenge, she researched the approach to middle-school art throughout the country, reading incessantly and visiting schools throughout New England before devising a design plan approved by architect Earl Carlin for the area now called the Marion Crandall Maloney Applied Arts Area.
Marion Maloney enjoyed teaching right up to the end of her 37-year career in 1978. In the early seventies she had for the first time added weaving to the applied arts curriculum; and after retirement she continued taking evening and summer courses in weaving, ceramics, jewelry, and painting.
Beyond her many important tangible contributions to the Branford Public Schools, Marion Crandall Maloney's most significant contributions live on in the students she taught. She provided all her students with the knowledge that they were capable, responsible, and valued human beings. To those who knew her best, she was regarded as one of the most positive, caring, and compassionate educators to serve the profession. Perhaps this is why she is so affectionately remembered today by the thousands of students who were touched by her teaching.