Viewpoint; View from the Classroom »
By Jeff Young, Professor of Art, Art Education »
Congratulations to the following 2020-2021 Department of Art and Design alums who earned the B.A. in Art: Art Education Emphasis and secured positions as art teachers starting this fall:
- Sarah Childres, Pulaski Heights Middle School, Little Rock
- Raina Davis, West Memphis Junior High School
- Kathryn Langston, Bayou Meto Elementary, Jacksonville
- Yasmin Lozano, Pinnacle View Middle School, Little Rock
- Madeline Nelson, Pottsville High School
- Austin Polk, Julia Lee Moore Elementary, Conway
- Elizabeth Rushing, Pinnacle View Middle School, Little Rock
We are excited for these UCA graduates as they begin their careers teaching art to Arkansas students at all levels, and we welcome them as new colleagues in the field.
One of the reasons UCA art education graduates are successful when they start teaching is that the art education program offers its students several opportunities to work with kindergarten through high school students in the field prior to Internship II, their student teaching semester. These early field experiences provide art education students ways to connect what they are learning in their coursework to actual instruction in classroom settings. In Introduction to Art Education, the college students work with elementary students in an after-school art program held on the UCA campus. In Art Education Practicum they work with elementary students in central Arkansas school districts, logging approximately 100 hours at their assigned schools. In Internship I, they work with secondary students, again logging approximately 100 hours at schools in the central part of the state.
Last year, due to COVID, art education students were not able to participate in some of the early field experiences; however, this fall, Practicum and Internship I students are able to be back in elementary, middle schools, and high schools to work with students in art classes. We sincerely thank art teacher mentors and administrators in Atkins, Benton, Conway, Little Rock, Mayflower, Vilonia, and Ward for working with UCA art education students this fall.
