Regional Art Teachers Spotlight

"Flexibility was a term taught to us in my undergrad. As educators, “we must learn to be flexible,” my professors would say. This pandemic has really challenged that in many ways. That first part of the pandemic, we had a week to figure out how to become remote teachers. It was a lot of trying to figure out how to create content digitally and learning how to use the technology I already had. I remember in March of 2020, I had to set up my laptop on top of a large stack of boxes, books, any flat surfaced item I could find and try to precariously record a demo for my students. I laugh thinking about it now, because I have come a long way in not only acquiring new technology, but also learning about so much in such a short amount of time. My flexibility was challenged again when I learned I had to teach elementary art on a cart in the new school year and work with elementary students in their classroom environments. I am working with limited supplies and my lessons are heavily based in two-dimensional drawing. My quest is always how to keep that fun and interesting for them all year. I have had to learn to be flexible for the potential to go remote again, the potential to quarantine due to exposure, or worse to contract the virus itself, all the while being pregnant with my first child. I am also working in a hybrid model, therefore, I have to not only work with kids in person, but ensure the students who are virtual are also provided with the same equitable learning experience as their classmates. Flexibility has been the key to surviving this year of teaching. Yet not only have I learned to be flexible, but I have reflected a lot on what I teach and how I teach it. I continue to ask myself questions such as, “why is this important?” or “what do I truly want them to learn from this?” or “Does it really matter if they turn this in late?”. I can reflect on a lot of negatives that teaching in the pandemic has created, but I feel like ultimately, it has taught me to really pay attention to my “why” of teaching and reminding myself that my students are humans living through this experience just as I am and how important it is to see them in that way. " -Tara Gorris, Black River

Much like so many other aspects of life, the pandemic has certainly impacted the way my students are able to learn and apply their artistic skill set. I have been both deeply humbled and profoundly amazed for the ways in which my students continue to adapt and persevere through the challenges. More than ever, it is evident how much the arts are needed. Many of my students have found their artwork to be an outlet for the stress, a way to navigate the uncertainty, and a product to celebrate their own perspective. -Katelyn Ysquierdo, Coopersville

Pandemic Teaching ...has taught me grace. ...has provided me an opportunity to realize what is most important to my teaching. ...has exposed the importance of expression and creative outlets for my students. Art is essential. -Mary Lamson Burke, Coopersville

In the beginning of the news about COVID my department started to gather supplies and make plans in case we had to teach students remotely. I know that we projected confidence to students but I knew that at least one of the core skills of an art teacher would be put to the test: problem solving. Whether it was delivering supplies to students' garages or being logged into a Google Meet twice, so that I could have one camera show my screen and one to show my drawing as I demonstrate a technique, problem solving is utilized more than ever in my classroom. That did not change as we transitioned back and forth between in person to remote learning and the in between times where I taught students who were physically in class and students who joined the class virtually. It has led to several positive outcomes as I create videos demonstrating techniques that I can now use for students who are out sick or countless other situations that I struggled with in the past. While there have been many challenges since the early days of COVID in the art room I value the work we have done to meet learners needs and demonstrate the skills that we strive to teach them. -Mitch Moore, Grand Haven

One of the more prominent things I remember during quarantine was how the people on my social media feeds were turning to the arts to bring them comfort and hope. Friends and acquaintances young and old were posting funny images and videos of themselves creating anything and everything from Squirrel picnic tables to jewelry to crocheted items for the home. Others were posting videos of themselves singing, playing guitar, or dancing. The arts have SUCH a powerful way of bringing out our emotions and healing the soul and we needed it during that time. With this in mind, it was easy for me to see just how important our jobs as art educators had become (or really always were). It propelled me to want to return to face-to-face instruction in the fall, even with the uncertainty of the world around us, because our kids needed art in their lives, they needed to have something they could turn to express themselves. It wasn't easy (and still isn't) as COVID has limited what we can and can not do in the classroom but it brings me joy to see my students still being able to create through one of the most memorable and telling periods in our modern-day history. -Danielle Hanna, Saugatuck

This school year I learned as much as I taught. The pandemic challenged me to develop and actively use new teaching methods to connect with my students. For the first time I dared giving my class cans of spray paint and introduced them to graffiti artists. (We were already wearing masks and holding class outside) We studied artists who reacted to what was going on in the world and expressed it through art; my students were stressed and anxious and they related. Cold, wet weather forced us inside as the pandemic grew worse, so I continued to modify my curriculum to engage my students and use creativity to cope. I introduced surrealism and how symbolism can communicate complex messages visually and introduced a project where students used surreal techniques to express themselves and the results blew me away! We have entered examples from both of these projects in this year’s Debut show and are excited to have a chance to share them with our community. -Sally Salkowski, Career Tech

John Tarr - Grand Haven

While the pandemic has challenged us as students and teachers, it does not define us. It has always been my philosophy to foster creative expression in a safe and non threatening environment. The art studio should be a place where students are able to explore, make mistakes, discuss progress with their peers and move forward, learning from missteps as they build upon their knowledge of art and art skills. It should be a place where victories are celebrated, both big and small. Teaching during the pandemic has highlighted and strengthened these beliefs in many ways. It has also changed the way I approach the fundamentals of object making with my students, requiring a more minimalist approach in materials and processes while simultaneously allowing us to explore perhaps even more in depth what it really means on a personal level to make something. -Irene Sipe, Grand Haven

"The Covid-19 pandemic seems to have put everything on "hard mode" this year, and teaching is no exception. Trying to motivate students is a crucial part of education, and many are simply not interested in being motivated, it seems. The fact that our lives' restrictions have now lasted a full year has taken its mental toll on everyone. Thankfully, we are resilient, if anything. One of the things we strive to help students with is showing grit in the face of adversity, and many are trying their best to do so. While the numbers have shrunk from previous years, there are still students working hard, putting forth effort and creating strong work. Those of us that are still ready and willing to work simply shrug, put our head down, and grind it out. It's not easy, but "easy" is not why any of us got into education." -Brad Vredevoogd, West Ottawa

Teaching face to face during the pandemic has definitely been challenging to say the least. From spraying tables and chairs between each class, to being mask police all day, while adjusting your budget and supply list to prevent students from sharing anything at all. I’m a pretty optimistic person, so I try to put on a happy face for my students in order to make each day special, yet always being ready to go into remote learning at any moment. We have learned many times by now that physically being in the classroom is not promised, and that we have to make the most of each day. What I love most about my job is that even after using the same media or supplies, and sometimes similar assignments year to year, my students always seem to create something new and exciting each day. Their overwhelming creativity inspires me to learn more, and work harder for them. Everyone feels welcome in the art room! -Michelle Fuller, Zeeland

From my thirty years working to teach visual arts at both K-12 and post-secondary levels, my observations and thoughts about teaching during this pandemic can be summarized by the impact the loss of teacher/student synergy has on student achievement, creative productivity, and morale. For the past five years, I have mainly taught high school students in advanced and AP level art studio classes at Black River Public School. My approach has always been to nurture growth in a studio setting, build rapport with each student, meet students on their level, have high expectations and urge students to make art that is meaningful to them. Art making is an aesthetic experience and works well to nurture all the ideals I have as a teacher, mentor and artist. -Peter Middleton, Black River

This year has been the most challenging of my entire twenty years of teaching. Being flexible to change plans and tuning into the needs of my students, has helped me get through this school year. Despite the obstacles of remote learning, I continue to be amazed by the artwork my students create. -Deb Kreuyer, Grandville

In my classroom I have a calendar with daily images...it is still on March 13, 2020: a subtle reminder of the day we used every box and bag we could find to send home as many materials as we could to keep student artists going as we went into quarantine. Thus began our adventure of working together from a distance. It felt different, but in some ways it was not that different from what many artists have experienced for centuries. Artists go to their studios and do their work. And often this work is done alone. I wrote to students in March: "But of course you all, and I, are not really alone. Artists, even when working by themselves often seek out others to receive feedback: they practice, share, question, edit, revise, wonder and begin again. We do this too. And for these next weeks we'll go to our individual spaces to create--but come together in this collective space to share. Thank you to you all for continuing to create and respond." So, despite the hard things: screen fatigue, the worry about students' mental health, technical challenges, the limited contact, we did what artists do: we created. And along the way I think we discovered a renewed sense of the important role art plays in nurturing resilience, in feeding our souls. -Merideth Ridl, Holland Christian

Pandemic teaching has really forced me to sort my priorities and be adaptable. This time has been a strain for most people in general and I think a lot of us get to a place where we feel helpless or ineffective in meaningful work. A lot of times I feel like I’m working twice as hard for less than satisfactory results. Instead of beating myself up about it, I try to stay focused on how to improve something in my approach or how I can best help a struggling student. -Derek Johnson, Grandville

In the classroom I encourage students to use their imagination and creativity to draw in their audience. Building confidence and experience gives students the power to create a visual for their audience to feel emotion, to yearn for more about the story behind the story, and in some cases a visual of the end product. The pandemic has not changed the end-goal, but has actually forced us to think outside the box utilizing tools and new dynamic methods to deliver and explore the objectives. Making connections and developing relationships with students is always the key to growth and education. Online education and hybrid schedules made relationships even more important. Students and educators alike have reached beyond their comfort zones, taught through various online tools, tutorials, videos, blogs and online chats to utilize different avenues of communication and delivery. Collaboratively students and teachers worked together to identify best practice. We were able to learn that we can't always predict the future, but we can take the extra time to deliver materials to students, make an extra trip to school to gather a friend’s art folder, be creative with the materials sitting around us everyday, improvise, and by all means make the best of every situation. Some days were more challenging than others, but I believe in a year of grace, we were able to rise above and grow by developing problem solving skills to further our life's journey through creative skills and concepts and everyday conversation. -Debra Kemppainen, Zeeland