The Art of Teaching: Meet Donna Carey

Home Base: Dallas

Big Thought History: Carey has been a Big Thought teaching artist since 2010 with the Thriving Minds After School and Summer Camp programs. She’s taught culinary arts, life skills, poetry, visual arts, food photography, performance art and more. Carey coached two America Scores Poetry Slam winning poets during 2014 and 2015, both students from Anson Jones Elementary. The students were awarded a trip to New York to present their poems at a fundraising benefit for America Scores. She also coordinated spring community service projects for America Scores from 2013-2015 benefitting SPCA, American Red Cross with military care packages, and North Texas Food Bank.

Education: Associate in Arts in Culinary Arts from Remington College in Garland.

Teaching Philosophy: “I want to stimulate students’ imaginations and creativity,” Carey says. “If you are strong in imagination and creativity, you are strong in thought, which builds thinking and decision making skills.”

Why Is Big Thought Important? “Big Thought pairs artists with students so that artists can share their knowledge with students that need it. Students can then open up and express themselves. But Big Thought also helps the artists. It helped me. I knew I was a teacher, but Big Thought really helped me become a better teacher. It’s so important to make sure the artists and the students are together because art and creativity are not in schools like they used to be, and kids really need that form of expression.”

Rewards of Teaching Big Thought Students: “Watching the progress of the students, how they build their confidence, express their feelings and opinions, and develop their stage presence,” she says. “You see how they really want to write with enthusiasm and interest they have never had before. The end reward is watching a child get up onstage in front of a group and sharing a piece of themselves that they never thought they could share. They walk on that stage like they own it.”

– Mario Tarradell

Photo: Donna Carey works with a student at Anson Jones Elementary. Photo by Jose Sosa/Big Thought.