Art is everywhere.
By fifth grade, students at Schulze Elementary School came to know this saying to be true, and it’s all because of teachers like Chesney Marquis.
One of Marquis’ goals in her classroom is to show students that art is not only a special taken in lieu of regular subjects. Art isn’t merely a class where students can come to get away from school.
“Day one, I start off by giving my students a sticky note,” she says. “I ask them, ‘what is art and why do we have it? By the end of the year, I hand it back to them, and I’m blown away by what they’ve learn. They come to realize that art is everywhere. We wouldn’t have this building without art. Someone had to design it. Someone had to draw it.”
These epiphanies are what Marquis lives for and the fuel behind her passion for teaching. With each year, Marquis sees her students transform into artists with every project. By the time they reach fifth grade, their body of work astounds her every time.
