Jackson Elementary School - 1st grade teachers Judith Kerrigan-Krodel and Michelle Gholl - 1 hour
Science Museum - Teaching Artist Jan Elftmann - 1 hour
This week, I had the opportunity to meet the first grade teachers I'll be working with this semester as well as the teaching artist I will be shadowing.
On Wednesday, I met Jan Elftmann at the Science Museum of Minnesota, where she works as a teaching artist. She told me about herself and showed me around some of the "backstage" elements of the Science Museum. Did you know that the Science Museum has its very own workshop where all the exhibits are made? It's huge! Any exhibit seen at the museum is actually made in house, which is really cool. There are lots of MCAD graduates (as well as other extremely talented artists) that work at the Science Museum. I'm really excited to work with Jan and shadow her this semester. She has a really awesome personality and a ton of knowledge. I can't wait to get a glimpse into her life as a teaching artist.
On Thursday, I made my way to Jackson Elementary in St. Paul. I met Ms. Gholl and Ms. Kerrigan, two first grade teachers I'll be assisting this semester. They are both so nice! I'll be working with them on Wednesdays and can't wait to meet the students! They are both really open to what happens in the classroom and are so enthusiastic about art. I also learned that in March, the students have a theater day (which happens to land on a Wednesday!) where they will be seeing Out On A Limb Dance Company's production of Aladdin. Out On A Limb just so happens to be the company that I'm interning for this semester! I'm assisting Gretchen Gasterland-Gustafsson with costuming. I was so happy to have two really important aspects of my life right now come together like that–it's definitely a good sign!