User:Jkova003

Who’s jkova003? I’ll tell you… My name is Jessica Kovalcik and this is a little bit about me:

EDUCATION

 * I graduated from Caroline High School in Milford, VA, in 1989, where I was a member of the Art Club and National Honor Society. In 1993, I graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University with a BFA in painting and printmaking. I am currently in the Licensure Only program at Old Dominion University and hope to be teaching elementary school art within the next couple of years.

PERSONAL

 * The oldest of 3 children, I have an identical twin sister who is 6 minutes younger than I, and a brother 4 years younger. I grew up in the country, playing in the woods, riding horses and surrounded by a variety of animals, including chickens, rabbits, horses, dogs and cats. My father was a logger back then and my mother was a teacher and still is an artist. Growing up I was constantly surrounded by and exposed to art and it greatly influenced me. I always knew I wanted to do something with art when I grew up.


 * In 1996, I married a fellow artist (and musician) and in 1997, we moved to Philadelphia, PA. In 2002, our son was born and as much as we loved Philadelphia, we moved back to VA to be close to our families. For the past 6 years, I’ve been a stay-at-home mom, only within the past year and a half working part time for my father-in-law. Being a stay-at-home mom was very important to me, and my husband and I made sacrifices so that I could do it. The majority of my time is devoted to my family and home, and they will always come first before anything else I do, but now that my son is in school full time, I’ve decided to move forward and accomplish something about which I am passionate… teaching art!


 * Though I am very busy these days, I do have a multitude of interests (besides art) including music (I like mostly the underground/ indie/punk stuff.) architecture, water, traveling, baking, gardening, knitting, riding my bike, and reading.

MY EDUCATION PHILOSOPHY
This may change slightly as I go through school, but for now this is what I believe:


 * I believe every child has the right to an education and every child should have an opportunity to learn. Teachers should be in the classroom to pass on knowledge as well as nurture and set good examples, reinforcing basic morals and ethics to those who are taught them at home and teaching to those who do not receive such guidance at home.


 * I believe learning should be fun. Teachers should be enthusiastic about what they teach and find creative ways to do it. To this day I can still recite all the prepositions in the English language because of a song my 5th grade teacher created.


 * On that note, I believe the arts play a huge role in education and they serve not only to foster aesthetics, but to open the minds and teach creative thinking and expressiveness in children. I think every child should have the opportunity to be exposed to all of the arts and to leave any out of the curriculum of a class is to severely hinder that student from an opportunity to expand his or her mind. While not every child may be interested in all or some of the arts, I think it is extremely important for every child to be exposed to and experience them.


 * I also believe that not every child learns the same way. Teachers should be aware of this and adjust their teaching to the needs of each child. Thus, I believe in small classrooms. The smaller the classroom, the more individual attention a child may receive.