Two Art Teachers Named Best in Maryland
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Article & photo by Ben
Boehl -
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The Maryland
Art Education Association named two local teachers as art
teachers of the year. Grace Hulse of Orems Elementary School was named
Elementary Teacher of the Year and Katie Calkins of Patapsco High
School and Center for the Arts was named High School Teacher of the
Year.
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Grace Hulse
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Katie Calkins
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Hulse has been teaching for 20 years and has been at Orems for the past
11 years. "It's a nice little neighborhood. I like that the school is
small because you get to know everybody," Hulse said.
She holds a photography club after school and took her children on a
field trip to Martin State Airport at the Aviation Museum to inspire
them for a project.
"The kids molded clay out of local history," Hulse said. “Some kids
molded projects from the Airport, Victory Villa and Aero Acres. It was
so they learn about their local area."
Calkins has taught at Patapsco for the past 10 years and has also been
a teacher for 20 years. She spent her first 10 years at Middle River
Middle School. Calkins was nominated by Linda Popp, BCPS Coordinator of
Art, and found out she won in an e-mail. Calkins enjoys teaching
because she gets the chance to challenge students and unlock their
potential.
"I try to give them a lot of encouragement and motivation," Calkins
said. "You have to know when it's time to push and when it's time to
give them space.”
Just recently, Calkins and her students have come up with a project to
give back to the community by helping the victims of the watermain
break in Dundalk. The art class has offered to digitally restore
pictures that may have been damaged in the flooding.
"So far only two families have come with their photos," she said. "We
are still looking for more families (that need photos restored)."
If someone is interested in having a photo restored, you can contact
her at kcalkins@bcps.org.
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