Kim Moncus

Tell us why you became a teacher

I have always wanted to be a teacher. My friends wanted to play house but I would always want to play school and be the teacher. After going to school for art and getting a BFA I decided to combine my two loves of art and teaching to become an art teacher which is the best of both worlds.

Tell us about your most memorable teaching experience

My most memorable teaching experience is what led to me including more SEL and mindfulness lessons into the art curriculum. An elementary student kept falling asleep in art and one day I decided to talk to him about it. He said he doesn't get enough sleep due to when he gets home his mom leaves for work and he's in charge of his twin siblings feeding them and bathing them and putting them to bed.

What would you do with the $25,000?

I would travel to see the Mona Lisa in person at the Louvre. This has been a dream of mine my whole life. Some of my students have been and tell me about their wonderful experiences and relate it to when we learned about Leonardo da Vinci in the Sunset Valley art studio (the art room). We call it our art studio because it is where the students come to be creative.