Teaching Artistry

photo credits: Sergio Herrera

Artist's Statement

As a teaching artist, I believe creativity is spirituality. I define spirituality as anything that cultivates interconnectedness, and I find we fail as a people the more we see ourselves as separate beings.

Art-making is spiritual. Whether we are alone or collaborating with others, art offers us a path back home to ourselves and the ultimate truth that there is no separation! Our feelings, experiences, and thoughts on this Earth are what connect us all.

I weave this into my teaching artistry, bringing my own experience of leadership and creativity from my filmmaking experiences to cultivate introspection and personal agency in my students all while centering play and exploration! After all, learning should be fun!

OVERBROOK HIGH SCHOOL

2023-2025

Weekly Announcements

At Overbrook High School I helped facilitate our weekly announcements series! With the help of our digital media senior class, these YouTube episodes played for school staff and students every week.

Over time, we were able to get creative and add on additional content (skits, music recommendations, etc.) Students were more than motivated to create their own content and share their opinions!

Episodes & Specials

OHS Variety Show

In this student-led project, I guided 35 students through the development of their own original content or art pieces. From early-stage brainstorming to final production, I provided creative mentorship, logistical support, and project oversight.

Ultimately, four fully realized projects were completed — showcasing student voice, collaboration, and independent vision.

Three of them are linked below!

From our celebration festival!

Halloween Narratives

Each October, students develop original narrative Halloween film projects. I support them throughout the process by facilitating brainstorming sessions, guiding them through shot-list creation, and offering practical strategies for more efficient on-set collaboration.

Lessons

My lessons and facilitations at Overbrook High School reflected my service theme across both years; adaptability. I responded to needs I observed at my site and created lessons based around this. I drew from my own experience as a director and other inspirations. I centered introspection, play, and SEL in everything I did.

Students creating their collages!

Looking Within

This lesson focused on look books in filmmaking — a tool directors and designers use to visually express mood, tone, and abstract concepts.

Students created personal vision boards as their own look books, using imagery to explore identity and self-expression. We also engaged in a creative exercise where students interpreted a pre-made mood board to generate original visuals, reinforcing the connection between inspiration and artistic output.

Nuts, Bolts, & Beats

With 17 tenth-grade students developing their own film projects, I saw an opportunity to integrate foundational storytelling techniques to support their creative process.

This lesson introduced Story Mountain, a classic narrative structure model. To apply their understanding, students participated in a collaborative Murder Mystery game, where they created scenarios detailing who committed the crime, how they did it, and why — all within a three-act story framework.

Media & Reality

In this lesson, students explored the visual language of reality television to sharpen their media analysis skills. We discussed how editing, camera work, and narrative structure shape audience perception.

To deepen engagement, students participated in a debate activity called "On That Hill", where teams took both pro and anti–reality TV stances. The debate encouraged critical thinking, persuasive communication, and respectful discourse!

Learning & The Brain

Inspired by educator Mae Early, I adapted their work into a student-centered lesson on danger responses (fight, flight, freeze, fawn) and how emotional regulation can impact learning.

Students reflected on the response they most commonly experience and created personalized self-care plans to support their emotional well-being — both inside and outside the classroom. This session connected social-emotional learning (SEL) to students’ everyday experiences and empowered them with tools for self-awareness.

Student Survey Responses & Reflections

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