Art Chowder March | April, Issue 20 | Page 11

I , and a few of my friends, helped put together a program at Meadow Ridge Elementary ten years ago. We all worked together to form projects and lesson plans while one friend, a para-educator, kept everything organized. I ended up taking lead for the first few years, writing the majority of step-by-step lesson plans for people (volunteers) who had no teaching or art experience. The memory of my professor inspired me along the way. I wish I could locate him and thank him.  Unfortunately, the kids still only get an art class once a month. I’m not sure about other schools, but it used to be art was offered at least once a week. I’m not sure if any of them do that anymore. Is the program at Meadow Ridge still running? Katrina: Yes and we’ve passed the torch on to other highly capable volunteers. That’s great! Do you have a job outside of art?  Katrina: My day job for the past four years has been running a business with my husband. While he was transitioning out of the Air Force I did pop back into substitute teaching to refamiliarize myself in case I decided to get a teaching job. Things were up in the air for awhile. Presently he’s in charge of operations in our business, and I take care of the accounting. I thought about going back to teaching but realized it would be better for my husband and I to focus on one thing together. It allows me to paint when I’m inspired, and has most recently allowed me to pursue a volunteer teaching experience at the Northeast Youth Center.  March | April 2019 11