Janet Lucas
Art Specialist 6th, 7th, & 8th grade
South Pointe Middle School, Diamond Bar, CA
Walnut Valley Unified School District
I have been teaching school for 25 years with an interim period at home with my two boys. I started by teaching home economics, my major in college; but when I came back to teaching after being off 7 years, I wanted to teach my second love, art. I have always taught middle school children and have been at South Pointe Middle School since its beginning 13 years ago.
My mother, an artist herself, inspired my sister and I to develop our artist talent. I grew up doing a variety of arts and looking at the world through my visual and tactile experiences. My father, an airplane designer, instilled a love for Asian. At age five, he returned from a month long stay in Japan and Korea as Douglas consultant to the Navy. He exposed our family to Asian culture and arts whenever possible.
During my tenure with Walnut Valley Unified School District, I have been the recipient of several awards. I was selected Teacher of the Year by my colleagues, received 4th and 2nd place teacher awards for the most award winning projects at the Los Angeles County Fair two different years, and I was nominated for the Bravo Award with the Los Angeles Music Center. I am an active member of the California Art Educators Association and have given workshops for other teachers at State Conventions and the local Foothill Middle School Consortium.
During the spring of 1999, I was selected to accompany a delegation from WVUSD of teachers, administrators, parents, and our district superintendent to Shanghai as guests of the Chinese school system and government. We visited 6 schools of various levels and in every school I was fortunate to see students doing visual and performing arts. I loved my experience so much that my husband and I took a 21 day trip to various parts of China including Beijing, Xian, Chongqing, Wuhan, Shanghai, Guilin, and Guangzhou. Everywhere we traveled, I tried to seek out the arts of the Ancients and the locals.
I love middle school kids, I love teaching and I love all forms of ART. I felt it a privilege to participate in the UCLA/Freeman Foundation Asian Studies Program. It allowed me to further my understanding of Asian people, culture and history and to share my ideas for students to explore the world of Asian Art via this web site.