Laurie Gowland

Since my second year in the district, I have been on the curriculum writing committees as they have occurred. I like to know what is coming and ensure it is executed most effectively.

the Amon Carter field trip is the only remaining part of the Getty DBAE program that remains. I meet with the Amon Carter educational group as needed to help plan the Field trips for our districts and others.

As the Art specialist at Donna Park, I have guided the creative growth of thousands of children over the past 35 years. I am an artist working in a wide variety of media including but not limited to, leaded, stained, and fused glass, sculpting in bronze, clay, and wire, as well as book illustrations in mixed media, and murals. Continually seeking out new media and ideas and working under the restraints of a commission allows me to bring new media and new projects to my students. I am a lifelong learner who loves to share my love of learning with my classes. I also love sharing my love of teaching with student teachers. I had a great cooperating teacher and want to pass on that

experience to others. Over 35 years, I have had 28 future teachers under my wing. and enjoyed and learned from them all. in addition to student teacher I like working with new teachers, always introduce myself to every new teacher in our district and encourage them to reach out with any questions, or needs, such as how to fire the kiln.

With my faculty on my campus, I also offer the opportunity to come and create a work of art several times a year for their emotional well-being as art is food for the soul.

Spreading my love of art and learning to everyone is my calling.

I worked on the TEKS specifically for K-2. The state school board wanted all of the Fine Arts to have the same overview I was selected by my fellow art teachers and repressive to be the art teacher to join one of each of the other areas: theater, dance, music, choir, and band, together we wordsmithed and overview to fit us all. When we finished that, we then had to word-smith the Four basic strands to fit us all.

once that was complete I sat in a room with one high school and one middle school teacher to word-smith the ABC and to some extent the 123 under that. So even though I was K-2 Art I had a hand in writing all of Fine Arts TEKS 2013.

I worked with UNT on training classroom teachers from all over the metroplex on how to use art to enhance all areas of learning such as, how to use an image to teach the main idea. At that time, the HEB superintendent, wanted one teacher from each grade level trained. We had a 2-week summer program that worked closely with the DFW art museum, we would spend one evening a week in the spring semester at UNT developing the curriculum for the summer and then teach the teachers over the 2 weeks in the summer.