Sterling duo sets designs on elevating students’ aptitude, love of art

Teachers at Sterling’s Challand Middle School are trying to keep students involved in art for the long haul.

Michelle Campbell and Scott James are art teachers at CMS. James has worked as a professional illustrator since 1995 and taught fifth grade math and science for Sterling when the art teacher position at CMS became available. Campbell has been teaching art at varying grade levels for 12 years and was the Sterling School Foundation’s 2024 Teacher of the Year.

CMS’s art program offers students a range of classes, from drawing to painting and printmaking to sculpture. James and Campbell take a structured approach to introducing students to art techniques and theories.

“In elementary school, they only have art one day a week, and it’s more of an art on a cart,” James said. “But when I get them in sixth grade, I teach them how to compose a page and fill the space because they typically come to us as tracers. So, it’s like a drawing boot camp, and then in their seventh and eighth grade year, Michelle goes more into color theory, 3D art, printmaking and more of the fun stuff.”

Campbell said she tries to build on the techniques her seventh grade students learned the previous year while exploring new ways to use different materials.

“We explore more into color theory and using watercolors and complementary colors in their portraits,” Campbell said. “We also do more with calligraphic lines versus contour line drawings.”

James said that teaching art is about meeting students on their level and being prepared to differentiate instruction based on their skills. He said students are not graded on how well they can draw or paint.

“Instead, we grade them on, ‘Do you know the concept and are you trying to apply it?’” James said. “For example, their sketchbook prompt, as long as they fill the space, it’s an interesting composition and they use at least three colors, they can get full credit. The amount of growth that we see each year from our students once they have art for a full year is just gangbusters.”

Campbell said that for several years, she and James have been refining the art program and identifying which classes are most suitable for each age group. They have also seen the number of art sections at CMS increase.

“We’re trying to focus on what they’re doing and refine their techniques so that in high school, they can get into the more complicated stuff,” Campbell said. “My first year here, I only had eighth graders. I think we were three years in when it was also offered to the sixth grade. The following year, we added two sections of seventh grade, and we’re currently looking at adding more sections of seventh grade.”

Technology has also found its way into art classrooms. Students can keep a digital sketchbook of their work to submit assignments and store their progress. James said these sketchbooks can be used as an art portfolio that students can take with them into high school.

“My sixth grade students do three self-portraits,” James said. “One at the beginning of the year, where I don’t tell them a single thing. There’s just a mirror and no instruction. I want to see what they naturally do. Then, they learn the proportions of the human head, and then you can see the pieces start to fit. Finally, at the end of the year, after they’ve learned perspective, value, shading and proportions, they do their last summative self-portrait, and they’re able to see their growth as an artist.”

For Campbell and James, the best part about their job is watching their students explore their passion for art even after they have finished their classes.

“Students will stop us in the hallways in between classes because they want to show us what they’ve been working on,” James said. “They’re still drawing and painting. They’re still doing art even though they don’t have the class because they’re in a different elective and can’t get it in their schedule. So, we give them feedback. We’ll never stop supporting our students.”