Did you know that VMSS is the only school that has the art push-in program? That’s one of the reasons why our new art teacher, Ms. McNown came to Valley Middle! She had taught for three years at a high school in North Minneapolis, and then for another 6 years in Wisconsin before that. “It’s very progressive, and no other school does it,” says Ms. McNown about the VMSS art program.

Ms. McNown’s passion for art began in high school, when she started taking classes. She loved theater, where she would paint the props and make all the costumes. When she was ending her theater degree, she taught an after-school art class where she discovered that she loves teaching as well.

Out of the many projects that Ms. McNown has taught, the project she is most proud of was the 7th grade photography unit. She enjoyed it because it was really fun to teach, and the students did an amazing job on it. Another one of the projects that she loved was the crystal growing project, which was new to her, but turned out great.

For the third trimester, Ms. McNown is over at the North Campus with the 8th graders. They are doing a project called the ‘legacy project’. One of the English teachers at Valley Middle School is close friends with an artist that lives in Minnesota. He will occasionally be coming in to help with this project. Instead of working on a small six-day project, the legacy project will be worked on the whole trimester. This year’s legacy project will be based on metamorphosis. Ms. McNown wants this to be a tradition that all future 8th graders get to experience.