Arts Educator Highlight: Mrs. Deweese

Meet Mrs. Deweese! 🎨✨

For my 3rd teacher highlight for #NationalArtsEducationWeek I interviewed this amazing woman.

Mrs. Deweese has been an educator at Cabrillo Middle School in Santa Clara for 24 years, teaching art full time for 6 of those years. Prior to teaching arts Mrs. Deweese taught both 8th grade literature and history (and btw one of my all time favorite past teachers!)

I loved hearing about how she creates a space in her class where mistakes are encouraged, saying “art is 85% failure, big works of art are an accident!” and that “we learn more from our mistakes!” I feel this sentiment is one we all can carry outside the classroom in our everyday lives.

Mrs. Deweese shared that her favorite part of teaching is “seeing students perk up and realize their accomplishments after previously doubting themselves.”

Even in the digital classroom, Mrs. Deweese continues to provide a creative outlet for her students, providing take-home art kits to use with classwork. While students are now spending a majority of their day staring at the screen, her class is an opportunity for these kids to destress and use their brains in a different way. Her assignments and projects allow students to still experience a form of hands on learning while at home.

Art truly has the power to heal, and these students are so lucky to have a teacher whose heart is in it for them. Swipe to see some awesome past student work!

#artsforall #artseducation #artheals #misssantaclaracounty #missca