This is my sixteenth year as a Jeffco art teacher. Art has been my passion all my life and the need to be an artist, is part of my earliest memories.

I am the type of art teacher that believes in building skills and student knowledge of art concepts in the art classroom. I believe it takes more that just exploring materials to help students reach their expressive and creative potential. Like learning the chords on a guitar, the notes on the piano and how to throw a football, artistic endeavors take practice. In my classroom the skills of a visual artist are built upon year after year, increasing my students competency and knowledge of visual modalities.

Visual art teaches students to decode the images they are bombarded by in our modern world. It teaches children to problem solve based on their own unique choices in situations where there are no set answers. Art teaches them to look closely at their world and creates flexible minds ready to think outside of the box. These are the skills our children will need as they become the professionals of our future.

My aim as an art teacher is to build these artistic and critical thinking skills and at the same time remember fun and inspiration should be central to the process. In my art room, I get to constantly witness my students learn to do something they couldn't do before. Their confidence grows each time and so does their sense of self. I get to see them inspired to create, using what is inside of them, in their own unique way and for that I am truly thankful!