I am a middle school art educator in Elmwood Park with a total of 15 years of teaching experience. I am interested in offering my students an art experience driven by creating artwork with personal meaning by presenting units of study designed to support their developmentally appropriate search for identity. These units will help students to reflect on who they are and how they have gotten to their current self, as well as to find their voice and explore their purpose. Students have the opportunity and support to experiment and explore with a wide range of media, skills and topics of interest.
My classroom is high energy and students are active and engaged. If you were to visit you would see lots of activity and hear lots of talk! Students are busy working on art works that they have imagined and they collaborate and critique with each other to solve problems and improve. My benefit: teaching them makes me a better artist.
In my free time, I enjoy ceramics and have recently become interested in fiber arts, especially paper-making with stitching. I enjoy the science and structure behind these two media. What we can do with these media is reliant on the properties of the media and I find in there a metaphor for life. We have structure, but we are malleable. I find inspiration in the ups and downs of life, the adventures and challenges that we encounter while we make our way.
When I'm not teaching, I like to spend time with my family and friends. I think my kids are wonderful and amazing and I look forward to our downtime together. Aside from art making, I also like to swim, garden, cook, and especially to be with my dog.