Donna M. Chase had an innovative way of handling squabbles between preschoolers in her class at Shady Lane School in Point Breeze.

When two students were arguing over a toy, she documented the resolution with a series of photographs. From beginning pouts to ending smiles, the photographs showed each step of the negotiation and every gesture of the quarreling students.

The two students ended up resolving their disagreement without teacher intervention. After the argument, Mrs. Chase posted the photos on the wall, which taught children in the classroom how to resolve their differences amicably.

"This documentation was valuable to students and parents, too, because it showed that with the right confidence and tools, children can resolve problems on their own rather than having the adults do it for them," said Patrick Webster, Shady Lane School's administrative director.

This was just one example of Mrs. Chase's creative teaching methods at the school she taught at for 18 years.

Mrs. Chase, 60, of Point Breeze, died Monday at UPMC Shadyside of complications from leukemia.

With her students, she also shared her love of nature and gardening, a passion she shared with her husband, William Chase. Since her leukemia diagnosis in March, he said he has used gardening as a therapy to help him cope with his wife's illness.

"She was a very strong person, but in a gentle way, and she loved being outside, she was an amazing gardener," he said. "We worked as a team and spent a lot of time there. She was the perennial flower gardener and I was the vegetable gardener."

Mrs. Chase was born in Jersey City, N.J., and graduated with a degree in art education from William Paterson University in 1970. That same year, she got a job as a student teacher at Northern Valley Regional High School in Demarest, N.J. , where she met Mr. Chase, another teacher at the school. The two married in 1972.

According to Mr. Chase, she began working for the Three Rivers Arts Festival soon after moving to Pittsburgh and spent many years as an assistant director. In 1986, she focused on being a full-time mom.

Her close friend and co-worker Penny Fahlman taught both of her sons at Shady Lane when they were 3. "They are now in their 20s so our relationship goes way back to when she was a mom and I was a teacher," Mrs. Fahlman said.

In 1992, Mrs. Chase started teaching alongside Mrs. Fahlman and worked primarily with 3- and 4-year-olds.

"She had tremendous artistic creativity that the children were able to tap into," Mrs. Fahlman said. "The students loved her as a person and a teacher."

Mrs. Chase also loved Monarch butterflies and attracted scores of them to her garden by growing milkweed. Earlier this decade she came up with the idea of having every student in her classroom raise caterpillars.

At the beginning of each school year she would distribute a Monarch butterfly caterpillar, which she had harvested from her own garden. She helped her students raise the caterpillars until they transformed into butterflies. Each student then would release them at their own homes. Eventually she distributed the caterpillars to every student in the school.

This project not only taught students about the life cycle of butterflies, but most important, it helped students bond with each other as well as with the teachers.

"Every classroom participates in the butterfly project but after that everyone goes in their own direction," Mr. Webster said. "It's an experience that everyone can join in on a common level and it also helps bring groups together, especially for the kids who are new to the school."

In addition to her husband, she is survived by two sons, Matthew of Shadyside and Alex of Point Breeze; three siblings, Marybarbara Zorio of San Jose, Calif., and Mark and Theresa Schaefer of Tampa, Fla.; and her mother, Claire Schaefer of Clearwater, Fla. Visitation is today from 2 to 4 p.m. and 6 to 9 p.m. at John A. Freyvogel Sons Inc., 4900 Centre Ave., Shadyside. A Mass will be celebrated at 11 a.m. Friday in St. Bede Church, Point Breeze. Donations can be sent to Shady Lane School, 100 N. Braddock Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15208, for a scholarship fund in Mrs. Chase's memory.

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