LENAE ZIRNHELD ART EDUCATOR BIO:

Lenáe Damron Zirnheld was born April 4th 1996 in Virginia Beach, VA. In 2018, she received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from Virginia Commonwealth University with a double major in Art Education and Craft and Material Studies with a concentration in metals, as well as a minor in Art History. Ms. Z has assisted teachers and studios at Penland School of Craft and Arrowmont School of Crafts. Ms. Zirnheld is highly interested in technical knowledge of materials whether it be metals, paper, clay, wood, or otherwise. Ms. Zirnheld is currently teaching at Brandon Middle School, loving the diverse culture of her classroom and community. She sponsors art club, hosts pop-up classes, tickets sporting events at Brandon, and aspires to much more. Ms. Zirnheld loves her students and is honored to be inspired by the brilliant humans she teaches everyday!

TEACHING PHILOSOPHY:

Education provides the opportunity to make students who are engaged, active, critical, honest, and accepting lifelong learners. I recognize my place of power as an educator, and I strive for my future communities to be dynamic and acutely aware. In my teaching practice, my main objectives are adaptability in the pursuit of higher and deeper learning, creating critical thinkers, and expanding students’ views of the intersections of all their learning.

As a teacher, I am determined to maintain the objective of adapting to my students. I seek to wear as many hats as needed to fulfill the roles my students need to thrive while always being their instructor. I might be clear and concise, but I can also be honest and approachable to build rapport and trust; I am a fellow artist, and I can be an expert to consult with. This also requires me to be self-reflective in my teaching practices; In my lessons, I am always looking for what I have missed and what changes I could make to better students. I strive for all my students to understand the process, for their hands to know how to move, how to shape, to know the joy creating can bring. There is a point where expecting a very strict image of an outcome will destroy the excitement, exploration, and opportunities to learn while making. 

As an art educator, I desire to nurture an appreciation of the arts within my students. However, the goals of my classroom expand beyond the visual arts. Overall, my main goal is to create brighter and more dynamic critical thinkers. Critical thinking, fine motor skills, innovation, and creative problem solving are fundamental skills that will serve any student as they pursue future (career) paths. I want to help students become conscious consumers of their surroundings and filter everything through their knowledge, to not simply consume everything for face value. 

My last teaching objective, one that I am aspiring to most as I begin my career, is teaching in a holistic way; I want the interconnectedness of subjects, everyday life, personal lives, other cultures, and time periods all to be viewed as weaving into one another. The street signs they see driving, how were they designed, why are they a certain size? When purchasing a six-pack of coke, I want them to see the advertising strategy, to know the artistic process of visual culture. In this, paired with critical thinking, I want my students to be educated interpreters and be able to see the layers in all things.  These are my current aspirations, but they are also active goals moving forward. Thank you,