Tag Archives: Art Teachers

Teachers who specialized in art.

NYC visual arts teacher Cheriece White garners FLAG Award

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Visual arts educator Cheriece White has garnered a 2022 FLAG Award for Teaching Excellence from the NYC Department of Education. Photo Credit: The 74

Our nation’s students are fortunate that there are so many innovative educators teaching in our public schools. One of these is Cheriece White, a forward-thinking visual arts instructor who teaches at Soundview High School in the Bronx, New York City. She has garnered a 2022 FLAG Award for Teaching Excellence from the NYC Department of Education.

Cheriece inaugurated her teaching career in 2013, when she was hired to design a multimedia program for the newly-built Soundview High. Accepting the position meant creating the program from the ground floor up. Today, the curriculum she developed is the most popular program on her campus. In the beginning, Cheriece recalls, “It was a lot of self-teaching because at that point, social media was starting to boom back in 2013,” she says. “It really transformed content creation… and there was no professional development on it,” she remembers.

To meet the challenge, Cheriece designed a curriculum that includes lessons on elements and principles of design, color theory, and color psychology. Her instruction incorporates such topics as digital storytelling, website design, social media content creation, infographic design, logo design, and movie editing. Students are given opportunities to use digital technology to create commercials, develop movies, and plan future businesses. “It’s my personal belief that art is always changing as technology advances,” observes Cheriece. “So it made sense to create a curriculum that not only engaged the students’ current interest in social media and technology, but also educated them on how to design digital content, videography, and infographics for these platforms,” she continues.

Cheriece earned her Bachelor’s degree in Visual Arts with a double emphasis in Media Communications and Media Design from State University of New York College, Old Westbury, in 2009. She earned her Master’s degree in Art and Art Teacher Education from Long Island University Post in 2012. Prior to her work as a teacher, she worked for one year as a specialist for Apple Inc.

For her innovative work in the classroom, Cheriece earned a 2022 FLAG Award for Teaching Excellence from the NYC Department of Education. The honor recognizes and celebrates extraordinary public school teachers who inspire learning through creativity, passion, and commitment.

To read more about this amazing Chalkboard Champion, click on this link to an article about her published by New York State United Teachers.

Isaac Scott Hathaway: Outstanding art teacher and renowned sculptor

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Outstanding art teacher and renowned sculptor Isaac Scott Hathaway of Kentucky. {photo Credit: University Museum and Cultural Center, University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff

Many Chalkboard Champions have distinguished themselves in fields other than education. This is certainly the case with Isaac Scott Hathaway, a high school teacher and university professor who was also an accomplished artist. Isaac is probably best recognized for the masks and busts he created of important African American leaders, and as the designer of the first two US coins to feature black Americans.

Isaac was born on April 4, 1872, in Lexington, Kentucky. Following his high school graduation in 1890, he began his formal academic studies at Chandler Junior College in Lexington, and attended classes in art and dramatics at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. While in Boston, he sculpted his first bust, using as his subject Bishop Richard Allen, the first bishop of the African American Episcopal Church. Isaac’s first formal training in ceramics came from Cincinnati Art Academy.

At the conclusion of his studies and training, Isaac returned home to Lexington to teach at Keene High School. There he worked from 1897 to 1902. He also opened his first art studio, where he made plaster parts of human anatomy for schools and medical uses. In 1907 Isaac relocated to Washington, DC, where began making sculpture busts, including those of abolitionist Frederick Douglass, university president Booker T. Washington, poet Paul L. Dunbar, and scholar W.E.B. Dubois.

In 1912, this accomplished teacher and talented artist married Ettic Ramplin of South Boston, Virginia. Sadly, she died early in their marriage from complications in childbirth. Following Ettic’s death, Isaac established a course in ceramics at Branch Normal College, now known as the University of Arkansas, Pine Bluff. He taught there and at a high school in Pine Bluff until 1937. In 1926, Isaac married his second wife, Umer George Porter. The couple moved to Tuskegee, Alabama, in 1937 to inaugurate the ceramics department at Tuskegee University. Shortly thereafter, Umer earned a degree from Tuskegee and became Isaac’s assistant.

The remarkable educator made an important contribution to the art world in 1945 when he developed Alabama kaolin clay as a medium, and he became the first artist on record to “make the clay behave.” The following year, Isaac was commissioned by the Fine Arts Commission of the United States Mint to design a half dollar coin using Booker T. Washington as the face and subject. In 1950 he was commissioned to make another coin, this time combining the images of both Booker T. Washington and George Washington Carver.

During the summer of 1947, Hathaway broke a significant racial barrier when he introduced ceramics at the all-white Auburn Polytechnic Institute, now known as Auburn University. In 1947, Isaac and Umer relocated to Montgomery, Alabama, where Isaac became the director of ceramics at Alabama State College. He worked there until his retirement in 1963.

Throughout his life, Professor Hathaway received many awards, including honorary degrees, doctorates, or fine arts awards from various colleges and universities where he helped introduce ceramics as a field of study. This Chalkboard Champion and amazing artist passed away at his home in Tuskegee, Alabama, on March 12, 1967.

Oregon science teacher Connie Robbins earns accolades

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Oregon science educator Connie Robbins has been named Harney County’s 2023 Regional Teacher of the Year. Photo Credit: Linked In

There are many exceptional educators working with our nation’s young people in American schools. and out is always a pleasure to share the story of one of them. Today I’d like to share the story of Connie Robbins, a high school science teacher from Oregon. She was named Harney County’s 2023 Regional Teacher of the Year.

Connie teaches science and art at Crane High School in Crane, where she has been since 2010. There she instructs courses in biology, chemistry, physical science, forensics, health, and art. She has also served her school as the Head Coach for the clay target team.

This exceptional educator has a reputation for creating innovative and stimulating curriculum in her classroom. “I engage my students in real-life problems in their own environment and through worldly events,” says Connie. “This helps students see outside themselves and fosters problem-solving skills for later in life.”

In addition to her work at Crane High, Connie also taught biology at the college level through Eastern Oregon University, and she has participated in the Oregon Science Project as a Learning Facilitator. She served as the President of the Oregon Science Teachers Association from 2018 to 2020. She also served as an archeology technician for the US Forest Service in Hines, Oregon, for 11 summers, from 2009 through 2021. In this position, she worked as a wildlife technician, monitoring goshawks and various woodpeckers. And as if all that were not enough, this multi-talented educator has been a freelance artist for the past 37 years.

Connie earned her Bachelor’s degree in Liberal Studies, Science, and Health in 2008, and her Master’s degree in Education in 2009, both from the Eastern Oregon University.

 

Texas teacher Lisa Mackey named a 2023 State Teacher of the Year finalist

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Elementary school teacher Lisa Mackey has been named one of three educators from her state who have been named as 2023 Texas State Teacher of the Year finalists. Photo credit: Texas Association of School Administrators

It is always my pleasure to recognize exceptional educators who have been honored for their work with students. One of these is Lisa Mackey, an art teacher from Klein, Texas. She has been named one of three educators from her state who have been named as 2023 Texas State Teacher of the Year finalists.

Lisa teaches at Fox Elementary School in the Klein Independent School District. In a career that began in 2010 in the Fort Bend Independent School District, she has taught at Fox since 2022, when she became a member of the inaugural staff at that school. Before transitioning to art, she taught as a regular classroom teacher. But she declares that the move has been a good one for her. “As an art teacher, I have a unique opportunity to pull out creativity in every way possible,” Lisa says. “However, having been a classroom teacher before transitioning to art has made me appreciate and integrate cross-curricular activities into many of my lessons.”

In addition to her work as an art instructor, Lisa is an advocate for advanced academics as a Gifted and Talented coordinator. In this role, she works with students to help them thrive in problem-solving and self-driven learning. She also does volunteer work as a Destination Imagination coach. Destination Imagination students work together in teams to solve open-ended STEAM challenges designed to teach the creative process.

This outstanding educator has been named one of three teachers from across Texas who have been chosen as Texas State Teacher of the Year finalists for the 2023 Elementary Texas Teacher of the Year program. But she has garnered other accolades as well. In 2022, Lisa was named her district’s Teacher of the Year, and she was selected in both 2020 and 2015 as the Metzler Elementary School Teacher of the Year, also located in the Klein ISD. Metzler is an internationally recognized Visible Learning campus. Visible Learning is the result of work by John Hattie who conducted research focusing on the influences that impact student achievement. Hattie was able to identify more than 250 influences on positive student achievement. Visible Learners set learning goals, are reflective, and know when to seek help from peers. Teachers provide success criteria so learners understand what it means to be successful in their learning.

Lisa earned her Bachelor’s degree in Education from Texas State University in 2009, graduating magna cum laude.

Visual arts educator Kim King named Connecticut’s 2022 Teacher of the Year

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Elementary school visual arts educator Kim King has been named Connecticut’s 2022 State Teacher of the Year. Photo credit: New York University

Congratulations to visual arts teacher Kim King, who has been named Connecticut’s 2022 State Teacher of the Year!

Kim splits her time between Annie E. Vinton Elementary and Southeast Elementary schools in Mansfield. Previously she taught at Riverside Magnet School in East Hartford and Westbrook High School in Westbrook in her state.

Throughout her 12-year career as a professional educator, Kim has taught students in pre-K to twelfth grade. Regardless of the grade level she works with, her curriculum explores themes of equity, empowerment, and creativity. Kim believes that creating art helps to build confidence from within, and empowers students to discover and trust their voices and ideas.

Kim’s teaching philosophy is that what our students see and what they are exposed to matters profoundly. Her colleagues appreciate this mindset. “Kim is deeply committed to student-centered practices and supports children to find their voice and express themselves through a discovery-focused process of making art,” remarked Kelly Lyman, Superintendent of Mansfield Public Schools.

In addition to her work in the classroom, Kim works with Make Us Visible Connecticut. Through this program, the Korean born teacher contributes her expertise to enhancing the Asian American/Pacific Islander curriculum. Kim believes that all students should be reflected in the American experience and in our country’s history.

In addition to her 2022 Teacher of the Year honors, Kim was the recipient of a grant from Fund for Teachers to study the art and culture of Korea. The experience helped her guide students towards understanding people and communities different from their own through art.

Kim earned her Bachelor’s degree in Fine Art from Syracuse University in New York in 1993. She earned her Master’s degree in Art Education from New York University in 1999.

To learn more about Kim King, see this article published by Steinhardt Alumna.