Oak Lawn’s Ailysh Cooper earns state recognition
In Ailysh Cooper’s classes, art isn’t just for the artsy, it’s also a gateway to problem solving and enjoyment.
Cooper, who began her teaching career at Oak Lawn Community High School four years ago, recently won the Meritorious Service Award for Early Career Educator from the Illinois State Board of Education.
Two other Southland teachers also won the award, Jamie Arvesen in Lansing School District 158 and Ashley Daniel Evans in Homewood School District 153.
Cooper’s students and fellow staff members say they aren’t surprised.
“What makes Ms. Cooper a great teacher is her fun and bubbly way of being, how she tends to go with the flow and even though some students can be hard to deal with, she always teaches with a smile,” said senior Ryan Infante.
Ryan, who took Cooper’s Comic Creation class last semester and is taking a Sketch and Draw class now, said Cooper also knows how to motivate students.
“She helped me change my perspective of my own art,” he said. “I always thought it was really simple and plain, but she always accepted my art, teaching me that even though it’s simple, it’s a work in progress and there’s always room for improvement.”
Watching students progress is enjoyable for Cooper, who said they also teach her a thing or two. Cooper received her bachelor’s degree from Northern Illinois University, where she is working on her master’s in art education. Her classes also include extreme art, painting and photography.
She’s also the graphics coordinator at the Illinois Art Education Association and will soon be Youth Art Month coordinator, as well as counselor and instructor at the Northern Illinois University Summer in the Arts Camp.
“I just like how students open me up to new worlds and ideas,” Cooper said. “I really like seeing them learn and watching that moment when it clicks.”
In a recent isometric drawing class, students were learning to draw in three dimensions, figuring out how to do that and developing spatial awareness.
“A lot of it is just trying to build an environment of problem-solving and trying to make sure they’re somehow engaged with art, even if they’re not going to use it some day,” Cooper said, noting there are many “artistic skills that could work somewhere else.”
Art is important in high school, she said, because it is a “gateway to life skills.”
“Some students will learn life skills like determination or perseverance through writing or a science experiment and some don’t.
Some connect with that process a lot more in the art room and it’s just a safe place to express themselves,” Cooper said.
The last two years have highlighted that. “The pandemic made it super clear they had specific things to say and didn’t have people to say it to,” said Cooper. “It (art) made a huge difference to so many of them.”
Art doesn’t stop in the classroom for Cooper, who also has a YouTube channel where she teaches drawing. She also loves doing technical drawing and painting.
“Ailysh Cooper lives and breathes art education,” said department chair Eric Kallenborn. “We are proud and privileged to call Ailysh a Spartan.
“Our student art community blooms with her in this building.”