Stephanie’s Biography

I am a Utah native who attended elementary and junior high school in Davis County. I then moved to the outskirts of Harrisonburg, Virginia, and finished public schooling at Spotswood High School.  Following High School, I earned an Associate's degree in Business Management from Blue Ridge Community College in Weyers Cave, VA.  Then went on to earn a Bachelor's Degree in Fine Arts Education and Teacher's Certification from Arizona State University in Tempe, AZ.  I worked full-time throughout my time in college and graduated Cum Laude from both institutions.

As part of the art education teaching program at Arizona State University, I completed two practicums. One practicum was held at a middle school for 2D and 3D visual art, while the other was conducted in the ceramics department at a high school.  My student teaching took place at a Phoenix inner-city school, where I worked with middle-school-aged students and taught various studio art classes.  The students at this school, more often than not, faced the perils of gangs, poverty, and language barriers.  At this school, I refined my abilities to communicate visually and developed a framework to teach students of varying skills, regardless of any learning obstacles they faced. 

Following my time at Arizona State University, I taught art to students in grades 1 through 8 in Peoria, AZ.  As the only visual art teacher in the school, I developed and implemented numerous visual art lesson plans for all grade levels.  During my three years at this school, I carefully accumulated works of art created by students for school and district art shows.   In addition to my duties as an art teacher, I co-taught a Drama class with the Music teacher, providing the junior high grades with another elective option.  

I then went on to work as a sign artist in the art department at Trader Joe’s at four different locations.  I created artwork and managed the art departments at 3 locations during this time.  The art was primarily dedicated to the in-store marketing of various products, holidays, and promotions. I enjoyed incredible artistic freedom by infusing my aesthetics, ideas, and techniques into this work.  This went so far as to enable the creation of various large sculptures for display made out of multiple mediums.  

I wanted to return to my birthplace and the academic arena, so I moved back to the State of Utah. While obtaining my Utah Secondary Teaching License with a Visual Arts K-12 endorsement, I worked as a substitute teacher in the Davis County School District. This experience was valuable, as it enhanced my teaching repertoire by instructing students across all grade levels in multiple subjects.    

With my Utah teaching credentials and diverse experience, I seized the unique opportunity to teach 2D and 3D visual art at a Residential Treatment Center in Utah County. In this position, I worked with secondary-aged students as they progressed through their treatment programs.  

I worked as a BTSALP visual arts educator in the Ogden City School District, serving students in grades K-6. In this role, arts instruction is primarily guided by enhancing core content area learning that students undertake in their classrooms. Subjects such as Math, Science, and Language Arts are extended into Visual Arts lessons, which incorporate subject matter and vocabulary. Additionally, during my time in this district, I obtained my ESL endorsement better to serve the needs of my English Language Learning students.  

I currently teach secondary visual art at North Davis Junior High (N.D.J.H.) in Davis County School District and work with Title I students. While at N.D.J.H., I have developed, delivered, and assessed the following curriculums in and out of the Canvas LMS: Art Foundations I & II, 2D & 3D Design, and Ceramics. Here, I have refined Universal Design for Learning (UDL) strategies and applied flipped classroom techniques to cater to the diverse needs of learners.

Outside of teaching, I regularly create art to build upon my skills by continuing studio art production and working on landscape paintings.  This keeps my creative mind active as I strive to strengthen my art skills.  Frequently, I create 2D and 3D works of art alongside my students during studio time so that I can live by example as an active artist. An extension of this is my desire to expand my knowledge and experience, which inspired me to pursue a graduate degree. I obtained my Master of Fine Arts in Teaching degree in May 2024 at the University of Utah.