Hello,
I'm Katie
I'm passionate about education as a dynamic space where creativity, critical thinking, and lifelong learning converge to prepare students for an unpredictable future. I believe that students must be equipped to value, adapt, and share their thoughts with flexibility and problem-solving skills. My approach honors the integration of life and learning, fostering personal passions while emphasizing interpersonal growth and community engagement. In both my teaching and art, I embrace experimentation and layered discovery.
My Philosophy of Art, Education, and Life
Art
My creative process begins with a problem that I let simmer in my mind until the sudden “eureka” moment inspires me to create. Experimentation is key both in my studio work and teaching. Printmaking, with its literal layering, offers a clear and tactile way to express myself. Each layer represents a step in the artwork’s evolution, and the dramatic reveal feels magical—like shouting “abracadabra” as I pull back the paper.
I’m drawn to printmaking’s line-based, graphic aesthetic and the joy of mixing ink and working with beautiful papers. It allows me to distance art-making from overthinking, embracing mistakes that my logical mind would otherwise fixate on. My artistic side crafts the imagery and mood, while my mathematician side handles technical precision like registration and pressure. This balance fuels my joy in problem-solving.
By layering stories, memories, images, and text, I explore what is hidden and what is revealed. The viewer’s role in piecing together these clues is important to me—ideally, we play a game of discovery together
Education
We are in the innovation era and ideas are the currency of the future. To participate in society and to be a valuable member, we must be able to trade in ideas. Students need to know the value of ideas; they need to learn to preserve and share their thoughts and they need to have the tools and skills to adapt and follow-through with ideas. We need to be concerned with creating “a new paradigm of human capacity to meet a new era of human existence” (Robinson, 2009, para. 12); our workplaces and schools must become environments where creativity can flourish, and people are inspired to grow. No one knows exactly what the future holds. Students starting school this year will be in the workforce fifty years from now with unimaginable problems to solve. What they learn in school now is forming their view of the world. How fully they embrace creative thinking and innovation will have a direct impact on how much they contribute to the world. (Hammond, 2015, p. 103). The only way to prepare students for a future we can’t predict is to teach them how to prepare themselves. Flexibility and problem solving are vital.
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We should seek to instill a love of learning while creating critical thinkers able to design their own inquiry throughout their lives; citizens of the world capable of setting goals and working with others to achieve them. We want our students to know how to gather knowledge and utilize that information as an individual, within a community and as part of the world. The goal of the education system should be to exist in the place where life, learning and loves meet. This model of education allows for personal interests and passions while putting the students first. It acknowledges that life and school should not be separate entities and ensures life skills are central to the curriculum. Individual needs are the focus while at the same time interpersonal skills such as teamwork and social interactions are emphasized.
Life
Life is full of strategy, unexpected twists, and moments of quiet reflection. I cherish the time spent with family, where connection and laughter create the richest memories. Downtime is essential to me; it’s when I recharge and let my mind wander. I find joy in both the challenge and the calm, embracing life as a thoughtful, unfolding game.
