Jump to: Collegial Dynamics | Community Membership and Support
Collegial Dynamics
Acts as a strong and positive ambassador for EPS
Develops mutually respectful and productive relationships with students
- I’ve facilitated a total of 25 of Independent Studies, including three sewing, one clay making, an Anatomy & Figure Drawing, Sustainable Architecture, Art for Games: 2D, 3D, Design, and more.
- Through 19 years of classroom interactions with students doing projects, in the art room, I am able to get to know students in a unique way and there are lots of opportunities to talk and create art together. We develop a wonderful art camaraderie. I have years of photos and videos of students working on projects and some photos of me and students. For example:
Develops mutually respectful and productive relationships with colleagues
- I love to develop relationships with colleagues through conversations to find common ground, and to learn new things. I ask questions and reflect and respond. I enjoy finding out about their family and their interests.
- I try to check in here and there if I have not seen someone for a while and I wish I could keep all their information in my head about their experiences, families, pets etc. We need an EPS spreadsheet.
- I take time to get to know new colleagues.
- I develop work relationships with facilities and staff because I value what each person contributes to the community.
Partners consistently with colleagues on projects
- Some of my Collaborations
- Music drawing instrument project with colleague Dr. Ed Castro
- Brainstorm ideas with colleagues to help them construct a project in their class
- Collaborate with Upper School and Middle School colleagues as time permits
- Peter Pan play collaboration with PE and theater and my 7-8 mixed media class
- Calligraphy poem poster with Paul Hagen’s history class
- Giant Molecule posters with Adam Waltzer-Science
- Giant Octopus Paintings on mylar with Adam Waltzer Science
- Making clouds in a bottle with Eric Clausson-Science
- Painting clouds with Katie Dodd- Science
- Calligraphy poems with Allison Luhrs-English
- Shakespeare Graphic design poems with Elena Olsen-Creative Writing
- Visual brainstorm collage of frontier images for a History and English collaboration between Matt Delaney and Elena Olsen
- Spanish videos with the Spanish dept
- My US drawing and Painting class painted 100 dresses for the play 100 dresses
- My film classes filmed an all-school recycling/garbage day
- Filmed various classes in other disciples such as PE, Science, Spanish
- Installations: giant eyes, history timeline, all school/faculty plaster mask-making workshop and then installation
- Participates in other faculty events such as:
- Spanish Day of Dead and Chinese New Year events
- School plays and music concerts
- Director’s Projects
- 1 coffee house where I painted on stage with students
- Family Heritage Night
Engages in collegial activities hosted by the school
- Periodically I attend holiday parties, happy hours, off-campus parties, alumni events, and end-of-year faculty parties to get together and have casual conversations to help me be a community member. Each event allows me to talk with someone I might not work with or see much in a working day and check in with staff who I don’t get to see much.
- Going out to school-sponsored dining out at restaurants/bars.
- I’ve been involved in hiring meetings/dining out for Sam U and Sarah P.
- I’ve run EBC art trips solo, taking city buses and where Melissa was my driver and with colleagues who joined me, and have been a chaperone on an EBC trip each year. I went to Argentina with 17 upper schoolers, and Ashland with lots of 8th graders.
- Fall overnights-I was often placed with the 6th graders and have been to various camps around the Puget Sound, and Olympic Peninsula, and spent the night at the Museum of Flight with middle school students.
Community Membership and Support
Acts as a strong and positive ambassador for EPS
- I’ve attended Open Houses each year and often run mini art classes.
- Created 19 years of art displays of visual art student work.
- Participated in my F&PA group events displaying art on the walls, display cabinets and folding screens.
- I’ve engaged in conversations with parents at Fall Harvest and any events that parents attend.
Attends school events and student performances
- I’ve attended most of the school plays, and in the early years, have collaborated with theater for a few of them with my students helping something for the set. I created some of the theater posters, and also arranged for one of my students to design the play poster for a number of years. Before our fabulous stagecraft classes, I also helped paint on a few sets.
- Through the years I joined Melissa Hayes during crew practices, got to ride long on the launch with her, and see students out rowing on Lake Union.
- I’ve only attended a few games during a few faculty outings that took in a game and then went out to dinner.
- I chaperoned many middle school dances, and various afterschool socials such as going bowling, putt-putt golf, roller-skating, and maybe more. I’ve lost track.
- I was the senior graduation photographer for a few years, and took most of the school photos, during my first two years, that I used in the yearbook.
- I took all of the student group photos and single photos for a few years.
Participates visibly in the daily life of the school
- I eat with colleagues in the lunchroom. EPS was wise to have us all eat together as a policy to create a communal camaraderie. That daily practice brings us together and it would be a fun discussion with folks who have been here a long time to remember back to how our lunchrooms have changed. The LPC is amazing as kitchen staff and the beautiful food they prepare. The PLC is the best type of communal space that allows for planned and chance meetings with anyone.
- I used to visit other classrooms to observe other faculty teaching. This was such a valuable experience that I learned so much from in seeing how they started and ended a class, how they spoke about and showed content, and how my art students were in another setting. It helped me get to know other faculty. I’d still be doing it every trimester because it is so valuable, but it is hard to sacrifice a planning period and the time.
- As valuable as visiting other classrooms, I try to take time when available to visit one-on-one with a colleague wherever we can find the time or in spontaneous moments when we cross paths. As we have grown, and as busy as we are, this is a challenge to accomplish at times.
- It is always nice to go say hello to Randi and Kristine when I travel through their spaces and have Scott and Jeff make us feel welcome.
- I was in charge of the yearbook for years and through Tina Haden’s guidance, learned how to use Publisher. As I mentioned earlier, I took many of the photos until EPS started hiring professional photographers. Allison Luhrs joined me maybe in year three, and we created a yearbook club where students helped put the pages together. At some point, EPS became too big, and Vickie took over the yearbook until Karla took it on.
Recognizes and supports diversity in all its forms
- I seek out conversations with and opinions of people of different backgrounds and life circumstances.
- I attend as many EICL meetings and activities as possible in my schedule.
- I volunteered to run the first Inclusivity Club and then Cascade Lineback joined me. We did this for several years-doing days of silence and meeting with students before Bess took on the challenge. My film students created messages with text that I edited in the Premiere video software and added music to show at a Martin Luther King assembly.
- I collaborated with Sam Uzwack to have my students do the calligraphy for a big scroll poster of Chief Sealth’s speech.