BRISTOL, Tenn. (WJHL) — The art of success best describes this week’s Educator of the Week.
Autumn Roe says she was never the best student, and she didn’t really have a true passion for art. That all changed in college and now she’s passing on her passion for art and learning to her students.
“In the art room everyone succeeds and seeing [students] be able to enjoy finishing a project and work really, really hard on something, that’s an amazing thing for them,” Roe said.
Roe is in her seventh school year teaching art at Anderson Elementary School. Her classroom is filled with fun, movement and positive energy.
“I strongly believe that every person is an artist. I believe that the art they make is what they need to make at that moment and that it is amazing and perfect,” Roe said.
That positivity is contagious and important because Roe is one of the only teachers to have an influence on every one of the Anderson Elementary students.
“That responsibility of every kid every day is what she loves. That’s more important to her than art. She wants to know every kid and she wants every kid to know she cares about them. That’s kind of her personal mission,” Anderson Elementary Program Assistant Amanda White said.
Roe calls herself the “chaos coordinator” and her tapestry of positivity is woven throughout the school.
“We recycle markers here. We don’t throw them away and we can recycle the markers and turn them into watercolors. After we do that, then we still use the plastic for some other project,” Roe said.
Now, Roe’s students are busy creating works of art for the 2023 school year.
“I make sure that the kids know that we can make mistakes in art but we can turn it into something beautiful,” Roe said.
Congratulations to this week’s Educator of the Week, Autumn Roe.
To nominate an educator, click here.
