Nominee: Jessica Glatz
Name of High School/College: Our Lady of Mercy Academy
Nominator: Shana DeVries
Why do you believe that this nominee should be named
Creative Outlook Magazine’s Art Teacher of the Year”?
Our Lady of Mercy Academy is a small, female, Catholic high school located in Southern New Jersey. Being a small school has its advantages and its disadvantages. One disadvantage being that our staff must often do more of the work than those in much larger schools, because we are a small faculty. Jessica Glatz is the only art teacher that we have employed at our school. Because of this, she teaches all four levels of art classes, Graphic Design, Photography, and Yearbook. She also runs the Art club and is charged with the task of taking every school photo for the website, social media, and yearbook. In addition to this, every year Mrs. Glatz puts together an Art Auction in which students make pieces to sell to the community, to raise money for our school and the art program. All of this does not even cover the non-Art department ventures that she assists with, including taking the lead on the school PR Committee. As a school with limited funding, Mrs. Glatz often purchases materials for student projects with her own money.
As if this wasn’t enough of a reason to nominate her, the most important reason that Mrs. Glatz is an amazing teacher is the impact that she has on every student she comes in contact with. She is one of the most beloved teachers at our school because she not only mentors students but she is able to inspire them to do things they did not think they could or would enjoy doing. Being the Guidance Counselor, I have been told by countless students that they do not wish to take Art because they “stink at drawing” or they are “just not artistic”. I encourage all of our students to try an Art course for a while and when I speak with them again about it, I always hear the same thing, that they love it! Mrs. Glatz has proven that she can turn any student into an artist, or at least a believer that anyone can like Art without having to be Picasso. This is the best reason to bestow the title of “Art Teacher of the Year” onto Jessica Glatz, because if a teacher can’t inspire their students to love a conquer a subject, what else is there?
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