When Friends grandmother Myra Bluebond-Langner GP’33 saw the invitation to the Art of Teaching Lecture by Lower School Art Teacher Isabel Dominguez on April 13, she decided to attend, thinking it would be a good way to get to know the School. She was not disappointed.
In the lecture, Isabel described immigrating with her family from El Salvador to the U.S. as a young child. With limited knowledge of English, she recalled making drawings to give to new friends, as an important form of expression and connection. Today in her teaching practice, Isabel strives to make materials familiar to young students so they can use them as a form of expression. Isabel explained, “Art-making is like playing, it lets children express themselves. Through art they make tangible what’s in their minds and hearts.”
Myra, an Emeritus Professor of Anthropology at Rutgers U. and an Emeritus Professor of Palliative Care for Children and Young People at UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health in London, was particularly moved by the video of a cooperative activity that Isabel shared. Myra comments, “Isabel views her classroom as an anthropologist would. She is an astute observer of what children say and do from social and psychological perspectives.”
Since then, Myra has become a regular volunteer in Isabel’s classroom. She comments, “Isabel practices what she preaches. I see it in her manner and in the way people respond to her. She is teaching valuable skills like nailing and sawing and perhaps more importantly how to have working relationships with others.”
Head of School Bo Lauder announced that the Art of Teaching lecture, now in its 14th year, has been renamed the Teri Hassid Art of Teaching lecture in honor of Teri’s service to Friends Seminary. During the Lift Every Voice Campaign, the Administrative Committee established the lecture to honor, share and inspire teaching excellence.
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