My name is Kendra Danielson.  This will be my tenth year teaching Art in the Fife School District.  I can't believe it!  Ten years!!!

I split my time between Endeavour and Hedden, which explains my sudden disappearance from a school in February.  (1 semester per school.)  As hard as it is to leave either school, I strongly believe that all elementary students deserve a quality Art education and our district is one of the few that makes Art a priority.  I absolutely love my job and would not want to do anything else.

On a personal note, I received a BA in Studio Art and a BA in Education from Eastern Washington University, where I also played Volleyball.  I completed my master's degree in Creative Arts from Lesley University.

Each year I choose a theme from which to base our Art curriculum.  In the past, we have studied themes such as Art Around the World and Art Through Books, but we have remained with our Art and Artists theme for three years.  My initial plans tend to exceed our available time, but this year we intend to study the works of women artists.  Historically, women artists have unfortunately not received the same attention as their male peers.  I realize that I too am guilty of neglecting the female artists, but not this year!  We will be learning about the lives and styles of Georgia O'Keeffe, Frida Kahlo, Louise Nevelson and more.  All students will complete projects utilizing the skills of drawing, painting, collage and clay.  They will also use the elements of Art, (line, shape, form, texture, value, space and color) plus many of the principles of Art.

The Fife School District's elementary Art curriculum is based upon the four Washington State Essential Academic Learning Requirements and their benchmarks.

• The student understands and applies art knowledge and skills.
• The student demonstrates thinking skills using the creative process.
• The student communicates through the arts.
• The student makes connections within and across the arts, to other disciplines, life, cultures and work.

For more information on Washington's Fine Arts EALR's, click here.