its open house tonight, and since we changing format this year, i may not be able to share with each and every parent of my students exactly what i'm all about and a bit more detail about their kids' daily art life than they may share (i've learned that even the things that my 1st grader loves in school many times get 'forgotten' by our dinnertime conversation)... so i wanted to post a formal introduction and share some info.

i have been teaching in webster for my entire career - i student taught at schroeder under the tutelage of suzanne brunner and bill stephens. suzanne retired and i was offered the job. after one year there, i was lucky to be then be hired at thomas where i have been since the fall of 2003 (which i guess makes this my 13th year teaching!). this is my 3rd classroom at thomas and hopefully will be my home for a long time to come. room 57 is my studio and home-away-from-home, as it becomes for many of my students. its a place built upon two main tenants - RESPECT and HARD WORK. these two things come together to make an environment that is both welcoming and productive - and produces amazing artworks. i could not be more proud of the work that my students do. it is great to be able to teach all high school levels - studio in art, drawing 1, drawing 2, and AP art/portfolio prep. this allows me to grow with the students and get to develop relationships that are far deeper than what we could otherwise... and it becomes a fantastic learning environment because the 9th graders can be in awe and inspired by the seniors (and vice versa - trust me - it happens!).

i hope that your kids are enjoying their time with me and in our fantastic art department. we are lucky to have them with us (sometimes for multiple hours every day) and look forward to another great year.

please take a moment and check out the information packets that i put out for each of my classes. if you were not at open house, you can find them here:
studio in art
drawing 1
drawing 2
AP art/portfolio prep

also, if you'd like to know more about me - take a minute and explore my site - lots of good stuff to see - my teaching/life philosophy, favorite weblinks, artists of the week, personal art portfolio and all of the friday wisdom flyers.

namaste.