Maggie Holloway

John, Wing Man, grade five.

I am an art teacher for the children of US military families in Stuttgart, Germany, and I love what I do. Our schools are a part of the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA). There are DoDEA schools on military bases all around the world. You can find schools like mine in Korea, Japan, Guam, along the East Coast of the United States, Spain, the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, Bahrain, Turkey, Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Netherlands, and Belgium.

We serve US military and military connected families, as well as tuition-paying students in several locations, but we don’t do it alone. There are many organizations that share their support. It was with the help of the Smithsonian that I changed my art teaching from being more teacher directed to giving my students abundant choice. I’ve never wanted to change back.

Inspired by an Art Contest
In the winter of 2021, the Smithsonian American Art Museum announced the theme for their annual art contest for DoDEA students. For young artists in kindergarten through fifth grade, that theme was Up/Down. It was a perfect connection to the open-ended themes I planned for my young artists as opposed to the more teacher-directed artwork I had previously taught. It was also an excellent opportunity for students to think about their audience as they worked through the stages of the artistic process.

When I told students they would be designing their own projects, many seemed confused or nervous at first. But once they began, you couldn’t wipe the smiles from their faces. Yes, some struggled, but most of them were able to work through that struggle and find a deep sense of pride in their creations.

Students weren’t just creating anymore; they were truly connecting with their art and presenting something uniquely their own.

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