NIU art education majors
teach St. Mary students

by Mark McGowan

Although one might expect divine intervention is always at work inside DeKalb’s St. Mary School, Principal Pat Weis is grateful when it comes to life.

This fall, the angels are actually 20 art education majors from the NIU College of Visual and Performing Arts who teach the parochial school’s fourth- through eighth-graders each Wednesday morning.

Prior to the first week of October, when the program began, St. Mary had no art curriculum whatsoever. An unexpected phone call from Deborah Smith-Shank, professor of art and education in the School of Art, struck like a bolt of lightning.

“When the professor called, I was just ecstatic. This was just like a prayer from heaven answered,” said Weis, new to the school this year. “When I learned of her distinguished awards, I felt very honored that she would come here. I hope this the first step of a bond between our school and NIU.”

Smith-Shank contacted St. Mary out of necessity.

NIU’s art education program, which once certified 25 or 30 teachers annually, now certifies up to 60 each year. Each must complete 25 hours of clinical work at each school level – elementary, middle and high – which is more than the area’s public schools could accommodate.

“I simply ran out of junior high/middle level schools,” said Smith-Shank, the 2003 Illinois Higher Education Art Educator of the Year. “I remembered I’d been out at the old St. Mary to teach volunteer lessons a long time ago, so I called the principal. She said, ‘I hope you’re wanting to do what I’ve been praying for.’ I think it’s the answer to both of our prayers.”

NIU’s art education majors are providing an intense, eight-week curriculum that adheres to state learning goals and parallels what students in public middle schools receive.

Students enrolled in the NIU teacher certification course called Art Methods for Middle Level design two-day lessons themselves under Smith-Shank’s supervision. The NIU School of Art provides art materials for the lessons, which are taught in the St. Mary cafeteria, a science lab and a regular classroom.

Each grade has a theme: Art is Artifacts (fourth grade); Art is Ideas (fifth); Art is History (sixth); Art is Communication (seventh); and Art is Identity (eighth). One NIU student acts as the primary teacher for each lesson while the others assist. Every art education major will have the chance to lead as the program progresses.

During the second week, sixth-graders are using oil pastels and the concepts of foreground, middle-ground and background to create landscapes that seem three-dimensional. Seventh-graders are drawing cityscapes with craypas to learn the use of lines to express symbolism and the use of warm and cool colors. Eighth-graders are using acrylic paints to simulate Indonesian Batik textiles on cloth.

Linda Williams, a master’s student in art education who took the ARTE 344 class last spring and now assists Smith-Shank, said NIU’s work is making St. Mary students aware of a “visual culture.” Art is all around them on a daily basis, from traditional works to computer graphics to newspaper and television advertising.

“This is really a unique experience for the St. Mary students, and for ourselves,” Williams said. “Our students are getting the experience, and their students are getting the respect for art. They’re totally excited about it. Anytime you bring anything new into anything, it’s going to be exciting, and we’re all learning so much.”

Senior art education major Donnell Rader has enjoyed the experience so far – especially the reception of St. Mary students hungry for an art curriculum – and knows he has chosen the right career.

“It’s good for us as beginning teachers. When you’re just starting out, it’s always good to teach kids who really want to learn. We just feed off them,” Rader said. “I’ve always loved art. I always felt I was good at it. And I felt I was good with kids, and always wanted to teach, so I put the two together. The reaction I get from kids kind of cemented the decision.”

For non-traditional Julie Gervais, student-teaching at St. Mary offers more than “practical” experience. It confirms a life-altering decision.

Gervais balances her pursuit of a master’s degree in art with certification with her longtime – and full-time – job as an advertising account manager. She’s also a mother of a 4-year-old daughter, the living and breathing reason she wants to switch careers and become a teacher.

“I’ve been working long hours for many years. It’s challenging, but not fully rewarding on a human scale. I thought, ‘If I’m going to work, I want to work at something that’s meaningful to me,’ ” Gervais said. “I’ve always been interested in art, and I want to help keep that glimmer alive in others – that everyone can be an artist.”

Weis has witnessed that glimmer already.

“The eighth-graders told me they wanted to skip their language arts classes and come straight to art class first thing this morning. They look forward to it,” she said. “I’m so happy we could work this out.”

10-27-03