Staff Spotlight: Sarah Wilson

Sarah Wilson, Fine Arts Teacher, Mountainview Elementary

Sarah Wilson teaches every student at Mountainview Elementary! She is the Fine Arts teacher for the school.

As a new teacher to Mountainview this year, she said, “I’ve loved getting the opportunity to incorporate more of the arts into Mountainview’s Fine Arts Program. My assignment was to take a class that was traditionally just ‘Music’ and turn it into ‘Fine Arts” including all five areas of the Washington State Standards: Music, Visual Art, Theater, Dance, and Media. This proposal came with lots of challenges, but also limitless opportunities.”

Mrs. Wilson continued, “One of the first projects that I knew I wanted to tackle was introducing theater to the older grades. I created a unit that started with drama games, taught the basics of stage presence, and ended with students writing and performing their own skits. At first, I could tell certain students were hesitant to allow themselves to play a role that might feel silly, but over time, with encouragement and reinforcing safety in risk-taking, I saw students who some might consider shy come out of their shell. I’ve loved getting to see students gain confidence through their theater experiences in Fine Arts.”

One of the most ambitious projects of the year was putting together Mountainview’s first play. This spring, fifth-grade students at Mountainview staged a performance of “The Wizard of Oz.” There were lots of technical elements that popped up as challenges, including creating a stage area in the gym by using risers, building set pieces with a minimal budget, and ensuring that the lines delivered would be heard by all of the audience.

Mrs. Wilson said, “I was impressed with how the fifth-grade students were able to rise to the challenge and use critical thinking to tackle these obstacles. Our incredibly talented crew was able to take cardboard sheets, paper plates, and pool noodles to create props and sets that represented Munchkinland and the Emerald City.”

Students with acting roles worked overtime to practice projecting their voices so that their lines would be heard all the way in the back of the gym. Together, during specialist time, students rehearsed, critiqued, adjusted, and rehearsed some more. Mrs. Wilson commented, “It was incredibly rewarding to see how proud each student was of their final performance and to hear how they were able to overcome their fears.”

Mrs. Wilson continued, “My other big focus this year has been incorporating Visual Art into Fine Arts. I was able to test run a Visual Arts program by putting together an art show for the school with our second-grade students. Over a couple months, our second-grade students created seven art projects – one for each of the seven elements of art. Through their art projects, students learned about art elements such as texture, form, and value.”

Mrs. Wilson explained, “During our art show, our second-grade students were able to teach the rest of the students in the school about the elements of art.” During the art show, all of the students in the school walked through the art gallery and listened to presentations from second-grade students about their art projects. Mrs. Wilson said, “I’m looking forward to expanding this into a whole school art show next year.”

Mrs. Wilson concluded, “Overall, I feel like this has been a successful year in spreading Fine Arts to encompass all of the arts. When I took on this position, I had three goals: build student confidence, give students access to the arts, and make Fine Arts fun. Every time students try something new in my class, whether that be playing the recorder for the first time or trying out a new art medium, I can see them gaining confidence. They know that I don’t expect perfection, just effort. That allows them to be risk takers."

Mrs. Wilson continued, “Second, I’ve gotten to see students have access to arts-related hobbies that they otherwise might have never gotten into. After a ukulele unit, I saw a few students really latch-on to wanting to learn more, so I created an after-school ukulele club where 10 hardworking students come to learn to play their favorite songs. I’m happy to see that I gave those students access to something that they loved enough to hold onto and want to pursue, even after elementary school."

Mrs. Wilson finished, “Lastly, I came into this job with the goal of making Fine Arts fun. With a mixture of classroom culture, teaching approaches, and new units, I believe that Fine Arts is now a class that students are excited to come to. I am happy to see so many students thriving in Fine Arts as they continue to develop talents that make them confident, critical-thinking, creative learners.”

Mountainview Principal, Klayton Wyckoff, concluded, “As a first-year teacher, Mrs. Wilson has gone above and beyond anything I could have expected in one short year. The students are excited to attend Fine Arts because she is such a dynamic teacher who has the skills to teach all of the Fine Arts standards. Our Mountainview family is very fortunate to have her on our staff!”