Mrs. Cummings Transforms the Arts .
Mrs. Cummings, University Campus art teacher, incorporates her passions for art in her teaching. Her mother influenced her to become an art teacher from a young age. Mrs. Cummings states “I have always enjoyed being visually creative. My mom had to talk my art instructors into letting me take their art classes when I was a kid.”
She has done even more than just art during her teaching career. She has influenced student’s lives through the teachings of young adult literature, theater, civics, and American history. Throughout her life, Mrs. Cummings has established that art is one of the sanctuaries for the youth in school. She believes it is a place to express their feelings in a safe environment. She says “I decided I wanted to be one of those sanctuaries for students by providing a place to be visually creative.” Mrs. Cummings tries to work with as many mediums as she can. Some classes will focus on a particular medium, such as pottery. However, her Art 1, Art 2, and Art 3 classes focus on various mediums and how they can work together to create specific effects.
Mrs. Cummings inspires creativity through student choice and exposure to various artists and their work. She provides an area of choice for students to customize their work to show their voice and understanding of the topic. Also, she includes past and current artists to use as examples when introducing a style of art. Each unit of the curriculum brings different standards and goals to reach the desired art effect.
Student artwork is displayed in the lobby of the theater. Mrs. Cummings says “I look forward to building up our advanced art program for students interested in pursuing art beyond high school. I would like for our art program to collaborate and interact more with the art community within Mobile and the surrounding areas.”
We are blessed to have Mrs. Cummings with her intense drive of bettering students both in and out of the classroom! Thank you, Mrs. Cummings, for all you do!
