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WHHS Fine Arts Vision
WHHS Fine Arts Vision
The West Hall Fine Arts is striving to become a state and nationally recognized program for students across Hall County and a cornerstone of the local West Hall High School community.
WHHS Fine Arts Mission
WHHS Fine Arts Mission
Our mission is to develop student artists that exemplify the highest standards of arts education, connect students with opportunities for leadership and community involvement, and provide them with a global perspective that celebrates diversity and our students own cultures.
WHHS Visual Arts Strategy for Success
WHHS Visual Arts Strategy for Success
Our strategy within the WHHS Visual Arts is innovative and research-validated. We designed our curriculum and instructional strategies to meet learners at all levels and with a variety of learning styles. We aim to teach discipline-based art education, supported by the Georgia Standards of Excellence, to foster a readiness for life after high school. We do this through the incorporation of 21st century skills development in a trauma-informed learning environment while leveraging aspects of positive psychology to meet our pedagogical goal: the pursuit of human flourishing.
We are reviewing our data regularly to ensure our vision for our students is practical and attainable.
WHHS Visual Arts Statement of Intent
WHHS Visual Arts Statement of Intent
The West Hall High School Visual Arts program embraces unique and creative thinking while striving to integrate skills development with arts-based knowledge acquisition. Through this integration and focus on 21st century skills within their Visual Arts classes, students will become better prepared to address the challenges that await them post-graduation.
As students explore their art-making capabilities, they explore who they are. The Visual Arts lead to the development of creative and caring individuals who are motivated to pursue what interests them and self-disciplined enough to follow that pursuit to conclusion. Students involved in the arts are knowledgeable and inquisitive and are able to strengthen their thinking through the sustained investigation that the art-making process requires.
The production of high-quality art fosters a positive work ethic while cultivating effective time management skills, accountability, reliability, and a sense of professional etiquette. Students will collaborate to solve problems, support and encourage one another, and endeavor together to build a respectful, inclusive learning community that celebrates diversity.
Upon completion of the West Hall High School Visual Arts program, students will be more than simply confident artists capable of conceptualizing and producing original ideas with technical and creative proficiency, but young adults ready for the world ahead of them.
Ms. Jennifer Griner
Ms. Jennifer Griner
Ms. Jeni Griner began tecahing art at West Hall High School in August 2019 and currently teaches Visual Arts Comprehensive II-V, Honors Arts III-V, AP Art & Design 2D Portfolio and Drawing Portfolio, and IB Visual Arts Years 1 & 2. She is co-sponsor for the WHHS National Art Honor Society and was recognized as the Georgia NAHS sponsor of the year in 2018. Ms. Griner was selected as STAR Teacher at Southeast Bulloch High School in 2003 and in 2008, she completed the Gwinnett County Teachers as Leaders Program in 2013, and in October of 2023 she was recognized as Georgia’s Secondary Art Educator of the Year.
Ms. Griner completed her Masters of Art in Teaching at Georgia Southern University in 2007 and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Commercial Art at Brenau University in 1996. Before she stated teaching Ms. Griner spent five years in the corporate world as a Graphic Designer; during that time she was responsible for much of the signage for the 1996 Olympic Yachting events and for the 1995 Northeast Georgia ADDY Awards. She began her teaching career in 1997 at Calvary Baptist Day School in Savannah, GA before becoming the fine arts department chair at Southeast Bulloch High in Brooklet, GA in 2002. She moved her family to north Georgia in 2009 where she taught visual arts, graphic design, and served as the fine arts department chair at the Gwinnett School of Mathematics, Science, and Technology for eight years. While there she organized the TOTAL: Training or Teachers as Leaders Program before moving to teach at Peachtree Ridge High School for the next two years.
Jennifer Griner has had her art displayed in numerous art exhibitions, was a featured artist in shows at the Averitt Center for the Arts in Statesboro and at the Presidents Gallery at Brenau University, and has won several awards for her graphic design, drawings and paintings. As a longtime member of the Georgia Art Education Association she served for seven years as business representative. Jennifer currently serves as co-President of GAEA District 2 NW GA and Pioneer District, and is serving on the GAEA Scholarship Committee. She has presented for AP and NAEA at the national level, presented for GAEA at the state level, and presents and offers workshops regularly at the local level. She spends a week in Utah as an AP Art and Design Reader each summer. She helped organize the 2019 and 2022 GAEA Fall Conferences and the 2024 NAHS State Conference.
GAINESVILLE TIMES Interview Download File
Ms. Christina Starlin
Ms. Christina Starlin
Ms. Christina Starlin teaches Visual Arts I and Ceramics I and II at WHHS. She is a co-sponsor of the WHHS National Art Honor Society.
Ms. Starlin started her career in the arts as a photographer. She was responsible for images published in the NGCSU (now UNG) newspaper and for recording Visual Arts Events for the Department of Visual Arts at UNG. The majority of Ms. Starlin's photographic work is contemporary portraiture. In addition to photography, Ms. Starlin worked as a graphic designer, focusing on business branding and stationery design.
Ms. Starlin completed her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Art Education at Georgia State University in 2019 and completed her Masters in Art Education with Piedmont University in 2022. She enjoys spending time with her two boys, Michael (11) and Maddox (9) and her dog, Sunny.
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