Castilleja School

As an educator at Castilleja School, I was motivated to incorporate design and activism in my work with students. I valued time with students to design and letterpress print posters for the National School Walkout Against Gun Violence 2018 and the Global Youth Protest for Climate Justice 2019.

Stay on the Side of Love

Collaboration with Christina Gwin.

In January 2018, Bryan Stevenson of the Equal Justice Initiative was a guest speaker on campus. His prescription for how to change the world: 1) we have to get PROXIMATE to people who are suffering, 2) we need to change the NARRATIVE, 3) we must stay HOPEFUL, 4) we have to be willing to do UNCOMFORTABLE things, and 5) we must stay on the side of LOVE. In order to keep his message alive on campus, we created this poster.

Democracy Letterpress Poster

In 2018, we stood in solidarity with students across the country to protest gun violence in the #nationalschoolwalkout. In response to this moment, I created this poster with the following Howard Zinn quote: “PROTEST beyond the law is not a departure from DEMOCRACY; it is absolutely ESSENTIAL to it” (emphasis added).

In order to create the quote test at an align, I learned how to use tools in the Maker Space to create custom furniture for the press.

Positive Pennants — Introduction to screenprinting*

Collaboration with Sara Kerr.

In the Spring 2019, I collaborated with artist Sara Kerr on a unit on activism and screenprinting in 8th grade Art. During this unit, students learned about the history of political signage, brainstormed and researched an issue they care about in their hometown or the world, designed their slogan and message for the future that they printed on a pennant. The project was inspired by the work of Chloe Jennings’ Positive Pennants.

*We introduced students to a modified screenprinting technique using vinyl cut on a Cricut machine.