Teacher helped students hone creative skills
One of the most valuable things art teachers can do for their students is to help them discover and hone their creating thinking skills, long-time educator Eileen Montgomery says.
In fact, she and her colleagues emphasize those abilities above all else, even technique, in their art classes at the High School for Performing and Visual Arts.
“We are trying to get students to be independent thinkers; we do a lot of self-evaluation and reflection,” said Montgomery, chairperson of the visual arts department at HSPVA, who will be retiring this month.
Montgomery’s whole-student approach is very impactful on her students’ lives, said David Waddell, a former student of hers who now teaches in Montgomery’s department.
“Eileen has high expectations,” Waddell said.
“I don’t think she’s ever backed down from making students reach their full potential.
“She and her husband (former Visual Arts Department chair David Sheard) really developed the program we have now, which is driven by ideas, not techniques.”
Waddell said he has seen many of his peers thrive as a result of high school and the visual arts program.
“They went on to be voices in their community.
“Eileen has really developed that, and we want to continue it.” True calling
Montgomery, a 60-year-old Heights resident, got her first taste of teaching while work-
ing as an art therapist at a psychiatric hospital.
“Working with people and helping them understand their creative potential is pretty important and unique,” Montgomery said. “(Creating art) gave patients a way to communicate and express things. For me, that was just so poignant.”
Montgomery later would spend more than 10 years creating and selling sculptures, ceramic pieces and lithography. But over time, she realized she missed the experience of teaching and interacting with students. She tried a compromise — part-time teaching and part-time studio art — before concluding that teaching was her greater passion.
Montgomery has been a full-time teacher ever since, first with Aldine Independent School District, and with HSPVA since 1989. Nurturing creativity
While Montgomery has earned a reputation as a teacher with high expectations for her students, she has been equally demanding of herself.
This was especially true during her first few years at HSPVA.
“I would go home and reflect and think, ‘I can do better than that.’ Whether I felt discouraged or encouraged, I felt like I was becoming a better person.”
It also took time to learn to cope with the emotional intensity of teaching, she said.
“People think kids at HSPVA are privileged, but so many of them are going through difficult things in their lives. Some of the things are tremendously challenging. I go home and think about them and wonder how they do it.”
At the same time, she added, she’s continuously impressed with her students and the creativity they demonstrate daily.
Because of the high value the visual arts program places on creativity, Montgomery said, it has finetuned its audition process to identify that trait in prospective students.
There was a time when more emphasis was placed on applicants’ drawing abilities, but because artistic training within Houston Independent School District varies by campus, it seemed fairer to evaluable students’ potential rather than past works.
Montgomery reached out to acquaintance Richard Olenchak, a professor with the Urban Talent Research Institute at the University of Houston.
He agreed to help the visual arts department pinpoint creative thinking abilities through the audition process.
Since the visual arts faculty completed training and enhanced their student selection process about 10-12 years ago, the Urban Talent Research Institute has returned to the high school to research the teachers’ efforts and the results. Helping teachers learn
Not only has Montgomery enjoyed fostering creativity and growth within her students, she also values mentoring teachers. Some who come to HSPVA are professionals in their fields as artists, but they have little experience as instructors.
In some cases, Montgomery already knows these teachers well.
“I’ve had many of my former students come back,” she said. “That’s pretty wonderful.”
Those former students include Waddell, HSPVA class of ’99, who will become chairman of the visual arts department after Montgomery retires.
“As most kids who come to this program, it’s lifechanging and transformative,” said Waddell, a 35-year-old Westbury-area resident. “As a teacher, I’ve learned even more.
“Eileen helped me understand we look at the whole student. She believes each person can strive and achieve individual growth.”
Montgomery’s impact as a teacher has been recognized by her peers in the art education community.
The National Foundation for the Advancement of Arts has named her an “Influential Teacher in the Arts,” and in 2011 the national Arts School Network named her its teacher of the year.
Montgomery’s colleagues say she has had a positive impact, not only at the school, but also in the community, where she helped establish the Midtown Art Center.
The facility at 3414 LaBranch was created to provide affordable office, practice, performing and exhibit space for artists and art organizations.
Montgomery says she sees retirement as an opportunity to spend time with her husband and her two German shepherds, as well as her mom, who recently moved to Houston.
But leaving teaching behind will be difficult, she said.
“I’d like to extend a lot of gratitude to people who’ve helped me along the way: administrators, teachers, parents, students,” Montgomery said. “I love them dearly.” HSPVA honored Montgomery during its annual Visual Arts Print Show on April 9.