A Little About Me
Hello!
My name is Alicia Hawkins and I am an art teacher at Park View Middle School located in Cranston, Rhode Island. This is my 23rd year teaching and I love what I do! I live with my husband, and two kids. Cooper (12) and Stella (4.5) are my best works of art! They keep me busy and love watching them explore and grow up! I also love when they WANT to do artsy things!
I graduated from Rhode Island College in 2001 with a BA in Art Education. I enjoy 3-D art, especially clay. Ceramics, along with building art in any type of medium is my favorite thing to do and teach.
I believe that having an open line of communication between me, you and family at home, will help us all understand each other have a successful year. Feel free to email, call or talk to me at school if there is anything I can help you with.
Park View Middle School
25 Park View BLVD
Cranston, RI 02920
401-270-8090
[email protected]
My name is Alicia Hawkins and I am an art teacher at Park View Middle School located in Cranston, Rhode Island. This is my 23rd year teaching and I love what I do! I live with my husband, and two kids. Cooper (12) and Stella (4.5) are my best works of art! They keep me busy and love watching them explore and grow up! I also love when they WANT to do artsy things!
I graduated from Rhode Island College in 2001 with a BA in Art Education. I enjoy 3-D art, especially clay. Ceramics, along with building art in any type of medium is my favorite thing to do and teach.
I believe that having an open line of communication between me, you and family at home, will help us all understand each other have a successful year. Feel free to email, call or talk to me at school if there is anything I can help you with.
Park View Middle School
25 Park View BLVD
Cranston, RI 02920
401-270-8090
[email protected]
Personal Views
In 2013,had the honor of being nominated for District Teacher of the Year. I am very fortunate to work with the exceptional and appreciative faculty and staff here at Park View Middle School. I thought I would include my essay on this page because it best describes my journey. Although its challenging, I love what I do. I love art. I love to teach.
May 11, 2013
Candidate for District Teacher of the Year Essay
I have pretty much always known I would be an art teacher one day. I can remember leaving the art room in sixth grade, after working on a clay project, and exclaiming to my friend “I am going to be an art teacher when I grow up”! I was always told I had “talent”, from being recognized for creative science backboards, to being honored with the art award my senior year. Art is the sole reason I made it through middle school, high school, and college. Being a visual learner, my art skills allowed me to make connections in the classroom, in the science lab, and even with equations on an algebra quiz. With the help of some great teachers who took the time to understand me and how I learned, I was able to succeed.
Graduating from Rhode Island College in 2001, with honors, in student teaching at the middle school level, I was hired into the Cranston School Department that August to teach art at Park View. I work diligently to understand my students and connect with their strengths, whatever they may be, to help them create, problem solve, express themselves, and appreciate the arts. This is just one way which I have made an impact at Park View Middle School.
Over the years, my beliefs as a teacher have evolved. In my first few years of teaching, I tried to save the world every day and every student in it. Some days I found it truly satisfying while other days I went home frustrated that I didn’t reach that one student. I have come to learn that I was too consumed with trying to make the students love art the way I did. I now see my students as an opportunity to help me become a better teacher. I teach to their strengths and interests, mirroring the actions of some of my most influential teachers. I have learned that reading student cues, including them in decisions, structuring my lessons around how they learn, explaining how the skills they are learning in the classroom translate to the real world, and respecting the uniqueness and diversity of themselves and others; I would get results. Awesome results. I finally understood that it was important to have them appreciate and experience the art but they didn’t need to love it.
My teaching style is a reflection of my experiences. When I think back to what worked and didn’t work for me as a student, it had less to do with the subjects and more to do with the teachers who taught them. I did well in classes taught by teachers who pushed me to do my best, held me accountable, and respected me. Educators who respected me, treated me as a unique learner, had faith in me, set high expectations, understood my frustrations, and thought of creative ways to use my strengths to problem solve is how I have structured my own personal teaching style.
Walking through the doors each morning, I start the day with the highest of expectations for both myself and for my students. Respectful of all my students, I aim to create a safe environment for them to want to learn. I encourage them to express themselves and experiment with materials and ideas, free from the judgment of others. All of my students understand that the process of experimenting, problem solving, effort, and citizenship are more important than the final outcome.
My actual classroom demeanor could be characterized as zany and loud, with a healthy dose of organization, and a “get it done” attitude. I tend to use humor and sarcasm in my conversational style. I wear many hats at Park View; while some see me as just another teacher, to others I am an advisor, an advocate, a shoulder to cry on, and a member of a homeroom volleyball team. I am the teacher who will spend hours silk screening t-shirts to help raise money for a local charity. I can be found working on team uniforms on my free period, or delivering a shoe to a student who needs the sole sewn back on. I am the one painting murals in the school with students, entering their work into state wide competitions, displaying artwork online and in local libraries. It’s me behind the camera at all the student functions capturing moments in time for their yearbook. I can be seen flagging down a bus for a student running late out of the building, or helping a student after school with a project for another subject. Making extra time by coming in early to fire a ceramic vase for a mother’s day present – that’s me too! I’m that zany lady that lives in room 201, who is always there to be whatever they need that day. To me, being a teacher means being accessible to my students; showing them that I am human, that I make mistakes, that I am just like them. This makes me an outstanding teacher.
The awesome faculty of Park View also knows where to find me. I seem to always have a visitor in my room needing a picture taken, a banner made, a creative idea thought up, or a professional or personal problem solved. I work hard every day thinking of new lessons that my students can get excited about, connect to, and learn from. I am always looking for a more effective way to teach and a better way to have my students meet their full potential. I rethink and restructure daily to create the best possible outcome. I involve myself in working with colleagues developing the new art curriculum so I can be a voice for my students and those to come. I want to be a better teacher and artist. I take risks and try new things and expect the same from my students; I like to think I am a role model for them. I know that I have made an impact, because when I walk out of the doors far past the time I am contractually obligated to, I have no regrets. I know that I have pushed myself and my students to our fullest potential. I try every day to make a difference. I can be trusted and counted on. I support and believe in the students and faculty here at Park View; we are a family.
I know as a teacher, the impact I have made is not always immediate. Evidence of my hard work may show up years later in a newspaper article interviewing a senior who attributes her love for art to middle school where I inspired her by being “spunky”, and “was never afraid to express myself through art”. When I read in my yearbook that I was their best art teacher ever, when I see a smile on a student’s face and hear “hey I actually like this” after struggling during a project, these are my rewards! Nothing pleases me more than being teased by students for being out sick from their last class or hearing in September from a new student that I had their older sibling and they can’t wait to have art with me. I know I mean something to them. That is the impact I know I am making. Finally, when I receive an invitation to an art gallery opening of a former student who is now graduating from college with a BFA, I know I have been an inspiration and, with confidence, I can say I am an outstanding teacher. I know not all my students will become artists, and that’s fine. However, every student will leave my class with skills, knowledge, and appreciation of the arts which they can use later in other classrooms and as graduates in life.