Professional Experience

ART EDUCATION SPECIALIST, MID-PACIFIC, HONOLULU, HI — 2004-PRESENT

  • Currently teaching visual arts for students in grades 1 - 5, co-teaching the 5th grade Character Education classes, and the High School FDVA Summer Courses 
  • Designed/implemented a constructivist, inquiry-based arts curriculum that is process driven and founded in conceptual thinking. The curriculum now includes S.T.E.A.M. math/science content. Namely, the integration of the arts with astronomy/geometry/engineering projects is achieved through the interdisciplinary collaboration with colleagues and outside specialists. The student construction of a digital progress portfolio is a critical component of the curriculum
  • Currently integrate expression/exploration of identity within the Character Education classes, assisting students in the formation/processing of emotions, using artwork as a counseling tool
  • Custom constructed and actively using a developmentally appropriate continua and narrative comment assessment system for the Elementary and High School visual arts 
  • Collaboratively manage, along with other specialists, the major events on the Elementary campus - namely, organizing the Specialists’ presentation for Grandparents’ Day 
  • Extended Responsibilities - Discipline Assessment Team (DAT) Leader for the Visual Arts Department, WASC Accreditation Committee Co-Chair, 2014 & 2008, and S.O.T.F. Conference presenter, “Inquiry as a Way of Knowing (2015),” and  “Quality in Student Reflections (2014),” volunteer resource teacher/mentor for 5th Grade Capstone Inquiry Projects

TEACHING ASSISTANT, CHIARAVALLE MONTESSORI SCHOOL, CHICAGO, IL — 2001-2004

  • Assisted art and grade 1 - 3 classroom teachers. Organized artist-in-residence, Eric Wenzel, visiting in conjunction with the M.A.A.E. thesis action research in early childhood visual literacy  

PHOTOGRAPHER / DARKROOM TECHNICIAN / STUDIO ASSISTANT, CHICAGO, IL— 1994-2004

  • Independent contractor of wedding, portraiture, and live music photography. Acquired advanced knowledge of the zone system and film processing. Printed, organized, and shipped exhibition prints by gallery/magazine request for Sandro, David Plowden, Alan Cohen, and Steven Gross.

PADI CERTFIED S.C.U.B.A. DIVEMASTER AND INSTRUCTOR, HONOLULU, HI - 2005-2010

  • Search & Rescue, DPV (dive propulsion vehicle), Deep/Cavern, and NITROX specializations

Resources

Artwork Portfolio - jilljohnson.squarespace.com

Teaching Portfolios - Mid-Pacific High School FDVA, 2015 (Student Work Samples - L.R.   D.C.   B.S.)                       - Mid-Pacific Elementary, 2004-present

Masters Thesis - Seriously Funny Comics: Montessori Elementary Students Analyze...

Education

The School of the Art Institute of Chicago - MAAE, Master of Arts in Art Education, 2004

Miami University, Oxford, OH - BFA, Bachelors of Fine Arts, 2000 ---- Minor in Spanish.

References

Donna Revard - drevard@midpac.edu, 2445 Ka’ala St. Honolulu, HI 96822 808-441-3824

Alan Barry Cohen - alanbarrycohen@gmail.com, 2701 N Hermitage Ave, Chicago, Il, 773-791-2821