Doesn’t my face just say it all? I have been teaching art for nine years and every moment has been pure joy. Yes, it comes with lots of stress, flexibility demands, emotional strain, and exhaustion but I would not want any other career than this.
Many people ask me about my favorite population to work with as I pride myself as a person who gravitates towards the underserved populations. Obviously, this need comes from my own experiences of living with a disability but more than that, I love working with special pockets of folks who bring a whole lotta life skills with them.
For my career, most of teaching has been with underserved populations such as at-risk youth at the Lancaster County Youth intervention Center, gifted artists at the Pennsylvania College of Art & Design, workshops at places like Schreiber Pediatrics and Autism Art Days with the School District of Lancaster.
The picture above is from a workshop I did for the School District of Lancaster’s Art Day with kiddos in the Special Education Program. Now, I need to clarify the terms “special education” and “special populations” are constantly evaluated for their proper use for the folks we are serving. I am currently in my masters program at Moore College of Art & Design with my title being “M.A in Art Education with an Emphasis in Special Populations.” My cohort and the director of the program speak a lot about this title and are constantly evaluating out options with language, committed to being respectful of the communities we are serving.
While I wholeheartedly believe EVERY CHILD deserves a fabulous education, my heart will always and forever be dedicated to helping those who need it just a tad more.
Mood & Magic 