Jean Rho

As a Visual Arts teacher with over 20 years of experience serving a diverse student body, I have designed a sequential fine art curriculum to develop student's technical and conceptual skills so my students can create beautiful and meaningful artwork that they are proud to share with others. Throughout the art program I have designed, students not only learn how create artwork but also learn how to show their work and talk about their work. They also learn about the history of art, as well as contemporary art and artists.

My students expand and deepen their inquiry into art-making in the context of art history and careers in the arts. As visual art students progress, they will continue to develop their art portfolios which are a collection of each student’s best work.

Advanced students who wish to pursue further study in visual arts in high school and beyond, participate in independent study, intensive workshops and afterschool programs to produce high quality work for their art portfolios. Selected student artwork will be chosen to receive recognition in various art competitions, catalogs and festivals throughout the district, county and state, as well as potential national competitions.

Aug 2020 to June 2022 :: Art Teacher & Student Advisor at Middle School 226 Virgil Grissom in South Ozone Park Queens, NY

During the pandemic, I returned to teaching to serve high-needs students through Restorative Arts practices with a Socially Responsive and Healing Centered lens.

• Created dynamic projects with historical context that develop artistic craft so students have tools for independent thinking and self-expression.
• Scaffolded student learning through differentiated art projects that promote a sense of calm and confidence through artistic accomplishment.

-Advisory curriculum was designed to develop student’s social emotional strengths through the arts.

Sept 2014 to Aug 2018 :: Art & Portfolio Teacher, Student Advisor at Middle School 131 Dr. Sun Yat Sen in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, NY 

• Empowered students to create public art in their neighborhood where community voices led the way in improving their environment and neglected public spaces through design, education, and advocacy.
• My students exhibited in various NYC galleries, art museums and juried shows: The Met, MoMA, Art Students League, Manhattan Borough Arts, PS Art, etc.

-Taught Senior Art Portfolio for students applying to NYC specialized arts high schools. Students accepted seats at LaGuardia HS, Art & Design HS, Edward R. Murrow Fine Arts programs.

• Led Art Therapy for our Staff community with elements from the Restorative Attributes of the Arts.

Aug 2009 to Apr 2012 :: Certified Arts Coach & Teaching Artist at Urban Arts Partnership in Manhattan, NY 

-Co-wrote the Story Studio grant program: To teach ELL students the English language through the integration of the visual and performing arts using drawing, painting, collage, storyboarding and simple acting techniques, combined with structured reading, writing and vocabulary activities.

• Led staff cohort meetings, Professional Development and curriculum workshops.
• Edited Teaching Artist's curriculum, assessments and rubrics for grading integrity and compliance with NYCDoE Arts Blueprint standards.
• Oversaw UAP/DoE school sites to observe Teaching Artist’s classroom management, assessments, teaching practices and project implementation, providing feedback to TA’s and Program Administrators.
• Directed the Arts Integration program at Facing History High School.

Aug 2006 to Aug 2009 :: Design & Portfolio Teacher & Student Advisor at New Design High School in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, NY 

• Created an Art & Design curriculum to develop students’ problem solving skills: using design process and product, entrepreneurship and social responsibility.

-Taught Art Portfolio for seniors applying to art and design colleges. Students accepted seats at Pratt, SVA, FIT, New School, SUNY Purchase, CCS in Detroit.

• Advised seniors on their academic performance, college admissions, and lifeskills, coaching them to create and implement a, “Design for Life”.

June 2004 to Aug 2002 :: Fourth grade Teacher & NYC Teaching Fellow at Public School 14, The Fairview School in Corona Queens, NY

• Taught New York State standards-based curriculum in an ELL classroom.
• Incorporated visual art into curricular planning and development.

Sept 2002 to June 2004 :: Visual Art Teacher at a NY State funded private Special Education High School, Martin DePorres in Windsor Terrace Brooklyn, NY

• Taught students with speech, developmental, emotional and learning disabilities.
• Scaffolded student learning through differentiated art projects that promoted confidence through artistic accomplishment.

From June 2004 to May 2007 :: Master of Science in Education and a New York City Teaching Fellow at Queens College, City University of New York, cum laude

From Sept 1994 to May of 1998 :: Painting major who switched to a Bachelor of Industrial Design with a Minor in Art History at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY, magna cum laude