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| When shopping at your farmer's market this summer, did you come across any advocatoes? Jennifer of Oklahomans for the Arts did, and she submitted this picture as proof. Thanks for reading and submitting, Jennifer! |
Hello advocados (advocatoes?)! I'm back from my summer sabbatical from the blog. I hope you got exactly what you wanted out of your summer vacations, whether that was relaxation or productivity (or a combination of both). It can be both exciting and challenging to get back into the swing of things after the summer, whether you're a teacher who was off for the summer or an office denizen (like me) who just gets into the summer state of mind between Memorial Day and Labor Day. So let's kick of fall with some art teacher inspiration. Read on for my second-annual Back-to-School Art Teacher News Roundup (here's a link to the first one).
- With so much negative rhetoric floating around these days surrounding teachers, sometimes you might feel like you "can't get no respect" (apologies to Rodney Dangerfield). So it's thrilling to hear that a gallery in Vero Beach, FL is honoring the hard work of their art teachers. This August, watercolors by Scott Walker, art teacher Vero Beach High School, are on view at Lighthouse Art and Framing. "We wanted to honor art teachers for all that they do and felt like they needed to have an outlet, just like their students, but for their own artwork," said Tammy Torres of Lighthouse, who organized the show; she also said she hopes to show art by local art teachers every August. Hear hear to that!
- A Pennsylvania art teacher has been honored for infusing character education into her classes. "School isn't just about taking tests," Kristy Manwiller said. "It's about building good citizens." The Character Education Partnership agrees and has recognized Manwiller's class as a "Promising Practice" in character education. During a unit on Native American art Manwiller's second-grade students collaborated to build coiled clay bowls, which also incorporated quotes about friendship and cooperation. We so often hear about arts integration with other subjects, and this is an interesting twist on that idea
- I'm seeing a theme emerging here: good works through art. In New Hampshire, one high school art teacher has helped her school raise thousands of dollars for to fight hunger - all as part of her art classes. Robin Peringer, who teaches at Nashua High School, was named a Nashua Educator Hero for her work on Empty Bowls, a project that sells handmade clay bowls to support hunger charities. She has worked on Empty Bowls since 1995; last year her classes made 700 bowls and raised $10,000. Aside from making a difference in the community, Peringer likes that the project educates her students on community issues. (If this sounds familiar, it's because back in January, I wrote about another art teacher who worked on Empty Bowls with her classes.)
- Awards galore! Spring, TX art teacher Grace Nguyen was honored with two prestigious awards this summer. The Kuehnle Elementary School art teacher was named Kuehnle Campus Teacher of the Year, and the Asian Chamber of Commerce's Educator of the Year. What's even more surprising is that Nguyen is new to the profession - she's only been teaching for three years, and this was the first year she was eligible for these awards. Impressive! But when you hear Nguyen's philosophy on teaching art, it's no surprise she is a successful art educator. “If [my students] feel like can accomplish something they’ve made a mistake on or they think they’ve made mistakes on, I always tell them you can solve this problem. I hope that through art, later in life they can solve their own problems and work everything out when they get older.” Congratulations Ms. Nguyen!
- In New York State, the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle's Woman to watch is a high school art teacher. named Eastridge High School teacher Karen Maggio a "Woman to Watch." Karen Maggio, who teaches at Eastridge High School in East Irondequoit, NY, didn't begin her career as an art teacher until the age of 40. But Maggio has made up for lost time - her nickname is "The Adventurous Art Teacher," and she started a blog by the same name where she chronicles goings on in her classroom as well as her own personal art career. Maggio has learned graffiti art so she could include it in her classes; she also involved her classes in the Memory Project, an initiative in which art students create portraits of orphaned or disadvantaged children. “I was overwhelmed by how engaged my students were in the project,” she says. “They wanted to make a difference in someone’s life.”
