Category | News

Associate Professor snatches Educator of the Year award

Published on October 30, 2007 by The Sentinel

     Sandra Bird has done something that most
people spend a lifetime trying to achieve–combine one’s passions with
their calling. The KSU associate professor of art education has married
her love of art with her other passion, teaching.

   
    Bird reports that she loves her job, especially interacting with students and other art teachers.

    “One can see the students make a grand shift in the
way they approach their work,” said Bird. “It is as if the ‘art of
teaching,’ manifested by motivating curriculum and creative delivery,
becomes their primary mode of expression.”

    She loves watching students blossom, particularly
when she sees someone really blossom into a “talented art teacher,
usually during the course of their intermediate teaching experiences,”
she said.

    “That is the period our art education program where theory meets practice most dramatically.”

    As a result of pouring so much of her love into her
work, Bird was named the 2007 Southeastern Higher Education Art
Educator of the Year. Given by the Georgia Art Education Association,
the award is given annually to an educator who exemplifies outstanding
commitment to their students and art education.

    The hallmark of Bird’s teaching has been her
dedication to art education students, said Diana Gregory, KSU’s program
coordinator and assistant professor of Art Education.

    “[But] there is so much more to Dr. Bird than just her work as an artist/teacher.”

    Having known Bird for over 10 years, Gregory said
Bird’s energy and attention to detail shows in all she undertakes.

    Bird has been a KSU faculty member since 1999. Since
arriving at KSU, she has built impressive arts partnerships with the
Cobb County School District, working with art educators, music teachers
and others to not only bring interdisciplinary studies of various
cultural arts programs to students but also to use these occasions to
advocate for retaining the arts in school programs. 

    Bird is humbled by the award, and is excited that she has a new award to hang in her office.

    “I suppose [this award] means that someone has
noticed the hard work that many have invested in our art education
program,” she said. “[It is also a] true reflection on the people I
collaborate with on a daily basis.”