Happy First Day!

Hello and welcome new students and families! I am excited to begin my second year here at OMS teaching Creative Arts and Invention & Innovation. Creative Arts is near and dear to my heart because I thoroughly enjoy all art forms, and it is a class where students explore visual arts, dance, music, and theatre in relation to world culture.

I was born and raised in Maryland, graduating from TJ High School in 2011 and earning my Bachelor's in Art & Archaeology from Hood College in 2015. I will also be graduating this spring with a Master's in Curriculum Instruction from Hood College. This is my fifth year teaching; I began my career as a part-time art teacher at Frederick Classical Charter School. This is a busy and exciting year because not only am I teaching at OMS, but I also co-instruct the Oakdale High Color Guard and I will be the OMS yearbook adviser! More information will be released soon about the ability for students to join the yearbook committee.

My favorite art media is charcoal, but I also really enjoy book arts and creating my own journals! In my spare time I like to take walks in Baker Park and around my neighborhood. I really enjoy theatre and always do my best to fit in each high school musical in the spring so I can #SupportTheArts and see former students on the stage. I encourage students and families to follow me on social media because I like to post frequent snapshots of happenings in the art room. My Instagram is @msstrasserart_fcps and my Twitter is @StrasserArt_OMS. I use this blog as a weekly contact with families to write about what students are currently working on in class. I like to post pictures in the blog posts, too, and at the end of each unit, I will post a select artwork to the Virtual Art Show. Head on over to that tab to see some artwork from last year's 7th graders to get a taste of some of the projects students might be working on this year.

I am looking forward to getting to know each of you!