10 Minutes with Tipton originated in January 2022 on the Education Page. Students in the After School Education and Safety (ASES) Program at Tipton Elementary School take time to Zoom with individuals in the community to ask them questions about their jobs, lives and strategies they can use in their own lives to help them become college and career-ready.
Daniella Lovato, Visual and Performing Arts lead, Burton School District
Please tell us a little bit about yourself – Your background, where you grew up, your family and your teaching experience.
“I am married with two boys, a six-year-old and a four-year-old and I am currently pregnant with my third son. My husband is a firefighter and has his pilot’s license, so he has a plane that he flies, a small four-seater. We live in Springville.
I grew up kind of all over the place. I lived in Porterville when I was in kindergarten to 2nd grade then moved to San Diego. From there, I moved to South America during my fourth-grade and sixth-grade years of school. I lived in Chile and then in my sixth-grade year, we moved to Peru. We traveled all over the place and then we moved back to San Diego for middle school. It’s funny because I started in Porterville when I was little and then moved back to Porterville for high school and it’s here I’ve stayed to raise my family.
I love the arts, so you’ll hear that when we talk, but I also love performing. Singing and acting are things that I love to do. I also love to run and have been a runner since high school. I love being with kids. I first started being interested in teaching when I led worship for our kids’ program at church. I taught first grade for nine years before I started my current job.”
Can you tell us about the Visual and Performing Arts program? Can you tell us what you do every day at your job?
“I am the Visual and Performing Arts lead in our school district. What we do is really try to help students experience the arts in different avenues and create art opportunities for them from TK all the way up to twelfth grade. We build those connections with our community artists and art organizations so students can be exposed to real-world opportunities through the arts. One of our goals is to also help teachers integrate arts into their curriculum. What I do specifically is organize and plan art events for our students. I direct our spring musical and lead events like Burton’s Got Talent and the Christmas Cabaret in our district which we have done for four years now. A lot of planning and organizing goes into my job. I also teach theater at Burton Middle School and one theater class at the high school. My co-worker, Jennifer Cannella, our VAPA TOSA, and I work really well together to bring these enriching art opportunities to our students district-wide. I do a little bit of everything … anything and everything to do with the arts and I love it.”
What do you love about your career? What do you dislike about your career?
“One thing that I love about what I do now, and I’ve always loved, is working with students. Encouraging students, building them up to help them grow in confidence and helping them know someone cares about them, but specifically with me doing the arts right now, I love being able to instill passion in the arts that students may not even know they have. So I really just love helping students grow in their passion for the arts and helping them grow more in their skills and their love for it just as I have.
One thing I would say is more of a challenge is it’s very difficult sometimes to get a buy-in for the arts. Art is typically something that is pushed to the back of everyone’s priority list and time limitation in our schedule is also a factor when adding art within the school day. But it’s very important for our students to be exposed to the arts which not only benefits their academics but also helps in their social and emotional learning. Thankfully, we have been getting more funding for the arts and have had great support from our district, but for the majority of schools, funding can be one of the biggest challenges.”
Would you encourage others to pursue your career?
“If they love the arts and if they’re not making it one of their main careers themselves as an artist then I think the next best thing is to help the younger generation grow in the arts. For those who have an interest in the arts and who love working with students, I would encourage them to pursue my career because it is very rewarding when you work with kids in the different aspects of the arts. Again, there is nothing more rewarding than passing on a passion that you have to younger students.”
What is something that might surprise members of the public (either about you, or your career)?
“I performed at Carnegie Hall in New York, a very historical building, with my Chamber choir in high school my senior year. In college with my Chamber choir, I toured through Europe as we performed under the direction of a very up-and-coming composer named Eric Whitacre. It was a great experience. I also went to Australia as a student ambassador when I was in the eighth grade. So I’ve done a lot of neat traveling and I have been blessed with some experiences in my life.”
What advice do you have for young people who might be pursuing your line of work?
“I would always definitely encourage people to go to college and get a bachelor’s degree in fine arts. But, I would really recommend someone who is doing what I’m doing to get experienced in all aspects of art. So, you might have your one area of expertise, mine is theatre, but make sure you’re knowledgeable in the other areas. Being a part of your community as well as those connections are extremely important. I have been on the board of the Barn Theater and on the advisory board for Harmony Magnet Academy as a way to make more connections and also give back to my community. So, I encourage people to get immersed in your community and work together.
Have you ever heard of a triple threat in musical theatre? It’s when you can sing, dance, and act. They are multi-talented and well-rounded. You have triple threats like Gene Kelly, Judy Garland, and Fred Astaire! Or in our day and age, Hugh Jackman, Justin Timberlake, and Lady Gaga. They can do it all and do it well! I would encourage a person who is interested in this work to be knowledgeable in every aspect of the arts because it will come in handy when working with students, supporting your teachers, and building relationships with your community.”
Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
“My biggest dream would be to be on Broadway myself, but that’s not the reality for me in general. So realistically, in 10 years, I see myself having my own business where I would still be working with students, but specifically working with teenagers and youth groups in churches in our area and where we would travel to different churches, or different camps and create human videos. Human videos are when you act out to a song using only physical movement to tell a message. I would love to be able to do something that ties into my faith and spread the love of Jesus as an outreach where I can use both the arts to make a difference and speak to our audiences myself as I love getting in front of teenagers to lead a message. That’s something to work toward down the road as well as to get back on the stage myself as something I do on the side as my kids get older. But I plan on being here at Burton for a while as we continue to grow and do great things here in the arts for our students!”
Anything else you would like to add? (Maybe a current, or past project you’re proud of?)
“This is my fourth year as VAPA lead. I’m really proud of, specifically, the theater program we’ve built at Burton School District, especially when looking back at our spring musicals and our performances. Our performances, I feel, have been really good quality for our area, especially for just starting out. From our lighting and production team to our facilities, which, thanks to our board, we just renovated our stage with new sound, lighting, curtains and flooring, and the support of funding from our district which allowed for incredible costuming, we have really produced outstanding shows. I’m proud of our students stepping up and stepping out of their comfort zones to put themselves out there with their acting, singing, and dancing. We have some students who have had lots of experience with performing in our community through the Barn Theater and Lindsay Theater, and we’ve also had many more who it’s their first time! We will be performing Peter Pan this year in May and anyone is able to attend, free of charge.”
Hector wants to learn more about computer programming. Joseph wants to pursue a career in football or become a gamer/streamer. Both students are in the seventh grade and attend Tipton Elementary School and are in the After School Education and Safety (ASES) Program.