Tell us why you became a teacher

I have always loved art, but I never wanted to be an artist. As long as I can remember, I have wanted to be an art teacher. When I was in high school, the art room was my safe space and my art teachers were my favorite people. Sometimes art was the only reason I came to school in the morning. I wanted to create that same safe space in my own classroom, and provide the support I got as a kid to my students. Art has the potential to build confidence in kids who don’t always have it.

Tell us about your most memorable teaching experience

I have two involving student travel. Every spring I take my kids to NYC for a week. One year, at graduation, a student wrote me an email telling me he would be attending Columbia; he credited this decision to his experience on the art trip and thanked me. The second was in Paris last summer, on the most stressful trip of my life. We were visiting Monet’s garden at Giverny, and I turned a corner to find four of my students on a bench, sketching the water lilies in their books. Once in a lifetime.

What would you do with the $25,000?

I’m torn between a couple of options. My knee jerk reaction is to take my co-teacher Maria on an art-related trip; she has done so much for the school, the kids, and for me. It would be nice to give back and support her for a change. I also wouldn’t mind, though, putting a big chunk aside so my low income students have the opportunity to travel internationally with me as well; it is very hard to fundraise for that trip and I always feel guilty only the privileged kids can go.