What sets The Donoho School apart is our faculty. These individuals provide the living curriculum for Donoho students in and out of the classroom. Each week we will feature a member of the faculty and his or her story. We hope you will enjoy getting to know our faculty members throughout the school year and will stop by each week to read the latest Donoho Story!
Donoho Stories: Ms. Sarah Landrum
What do you teach at The Donoho School?
Lower school art with PK4 – 6th grade students, Latin enrichment with 5th – 6th grade students, and upper school art.
What do you love about The Donoho School? Because of Donoho’s relatively small size, our students grow to know one another really well. They develop a few deep friendships rather than many superficial ones. I attended an independent school about the same size at the time as Donoho is now (Brookstone School in Columbus, Georgia). The intimacy of Donoho seems familiar to me and is something I value. Also, after teaching in urban schools in Atlanta, I was struck by the lovely natural setting of this campus with the hills all around us. It’s wonderful as an art teacher to have students draw landscapes from direct observation and to have easy access to natural materials for our projects.
Why do you like teaching at The Donoho School? What motivated you to become a teacher at The Donoho School?
I actually started at Donoho as a parent, so I understood right away that the teachers had high expectations and were able to give attention individually to each student and that a mutual respect existed between teachers and students. I taught as a long-term art sub and enjoyed it; when the opportunity came to teach art full time, I jumped at the chance. I’ve taught all ages in the past from toddlers to older adults, and my favorite age to teach always seems to be the one I’m teaching at the moment. I could never decide between teaching young children and teenagers, as most teachers must. I am fortunate to teach almost every grade here. Finally, I am grateful to be able to teach both art and Latin. I have degrees in both disciplines, but it is unusual to be able to teach the two subjects I am most passionate about in the same school.
What is a unique experience, talent or interest that you bring to your classroom to help shape the learning experience of your students?
I’m a teaching artist. While I teach art as my “day job” I am also a working artist who maintains a studio practice and exhibits work as much as possible. I don’t make a distinction between teaching art and making art; they are both my creative work. When a student becomes frustrated or encounters a problem with a project, I can often relate it to something similar that has happened to me in the studio and help guide them toward a solution.
What sets Donoho students apart from students in other schools?
Our older students are already thinking about their future plans in a serious and inquisitive way. Maybe this is because they are preparing to go on to college. But most of our students are looking well beyond their college years, exploring careers, and setting goals for themselves at a very young age. The Intersession program is one way we encourage long-range goals. I’ve seen many students go on to enter a profession related to something that they first explored during Intersession.
The Donoho School tagline is “Discover the Difference.” How do you accomplish this in your role at Donoho?
Like science, mathematics, and the humanities, art is a way to go about understanding the world. As they create art, I encourage my students to ask questions and search for answers, to experiment and find interesting solutions. I ask them to approach art critically, both their own work and that of other artists, and to persevere even when something is not working out as they had initially envisioned. I allow them to “fail” and ask them to turn their so-called failure into something interesting, perhaps even beautiful.
What do you want your students to gain from having known you?
I hope I transmit a sense of curiosity. I am still finding new things that I am eager to learn about—new art techniques, yoga, languages, the list grows. Also, for students who want to continue in an art-related field, I offer guidance. Professions related to art and design are a rapidly growing sector in our economy with a high demand for everything from computer animators to industrial designers, from urban planners to architects. And even if they don’t continue to make art, I hope that my students will find a way to create something throughout their lives, whether it is a garden, wonderful food, a business, or a solution to a problem facing the world they will inherit.
Sarah Landrum is holds a B.A. in classics from Emory University and a B.F.A. in painting from the Rhode Island School of Design. She is married to Pitt Harding, a professor of English at Jacksonville State University, and the mother of Isabel and Annie ’09. She lives in Jacksonville, Alabama, with her family and beloved mutt, Maisie.
