Community Arts Partner

Teaching Approach

Teaching Philosophy + Approach

The heart of learning is partnership. As a teacher, my first objective is always to establish a trusting relationship with students, to work with them in co-creating a learning environment in which we are all invited to take risks together. Throughout the course of our work, I encourage to listen and respond to their creative intuition. Instruction is designed to provide points of reflection rather than rigid guidelines. Like life, art is a dance between worlds, a dance on the border of cognitive hemispheres, a composition that each must approach in her/his own unique way. Ultimately, my goal is to create an environment in which students can explore the artistic process, to see that process as a set of skills that allows them to evaluate and reconstruct experiences in ways that are empowering and that allow them to define and re-define the relationship between external and internal landscapes.

Curriculum Integration Possibilities

Strongest Curricular Ties: Language Arts, Reading, Social Studies, History I have also done arts integrated units in Science, Mathematics with primary level students.

Special Skills and Areas of Expertise

I have experience as a Diversity Coordinator and have engaged in social justice trainings and facilitation with National Association of Independent Schools, The National Coalition Building Institute, People of Color Conference, The Red Cross, Facing History and Ourselves, and Seattle Race and Social Justice Initiative.

Testimonials from Schools

Lydia Jurcey, Education Coordinator, Poweful Schools lydia@powerfulschools.org Kathy Haskins, Education & Communications Manager, Bainbridge Island Arts & Humanities Council, KathyH@BainbridgeArtsHumanities.org Marybeth Satterlee, Program Director, Coyote Central marybeth@coyotecentral.org Adam Doody, Program Coordinator, Path with Art adam@pathwithart.org Kenneth Maldonado, 5th Grade Teacher, South Shore School kemaldonado@seattleschools.org