KidzArt

Writing about my current jobs recently reminded me that I've never shared about some of the jobs I held before I started blogging. In 2010, I took a job as a KidzArt instructor. KidzArt is a franchised after-school art program. I worked one day a week after school teaching directed drawing and other art skills to students in kindergarten through 2nd grade.

The application and training process was surprisingly complex. I was a credentialed teacher with a masters in education and 11 years in the classroom, a portfolio of artwork, and excellent referrals and I still had to go through 3 interviews, a demonstration lesson, fingerprinting, and about 25 hours of training (and pass a test) before I was hired to teach an art class to a group of 15 kids.

For my demonstration lesson, I was given a lesson plan and a print of a pastel drawing about a week ahead of time, which I would teach in front of the owners as if it were a full class session. They warned me that a lot of artists have a hard time transitioning from drawing on a tabletop to drawing on an easel. Once again, my experience as a classroom teacher came in handy: I'd been writing on a vertical surface for multiple hours a day, approximately 180 days a year, for over a decade. My demo lesson went well and I was hired.

This was what I made for the demo lesson. I taught it to my first group of KidzArt students a few weeks later.

I wish I had a copy of the inspiration piece. It would be fun to see how they look side-by-side. I'm kicking myself for not photographing it. 

Next week I'll share the rest of the projects I made during my time as a KidzArt instructor.