P3 Teacher Feature #5 – Celebrating Windham County’s Career Education Game-Changers
Remember that teacher who first got you thinking about what you might do with your life? That special educator who connected the big ideas, or daily skill-building, to things out in the real world? The P3 Teacher Feature series pays homage to some of the educational partners who exemplify the mission of BDCC’s Pipelines and Pathways Program for high school career education. These heroes link learning with life goals, by connecting students with career options in a variety of ways, from speaker panels to co-op and job shadow opportunities.
Our fourth Teacher Feature highlights Twin Valley High School’s Art Teacher, Samantha Mundt.
How long have you been a teacher?
12 years.
How long have you worked at TVHS?
Next school year will be 10 years!
What did you want to “be” when you grew up? An actress, then a photographer then a teacher.
Give some information on your educational background. I graduated from Clearview High School in Mullica Hill, NJ then I went to Bennington College for my Bachelor of Arts. I got my Masters in the Art of Teaching from Tufts University/SMFA (School of the the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston).
Give some information on your employment background. Starting off in high school and through college I worked in photo labs. After college I worked in retail and nannied then moved to Boston and worked at the ICA (Institute of Contemporary Art) until graduate school. After graduate school I moved back up here working at an early childhood center until I worked here!
What made you decide to become a teacher? I love creating art with every age, helping students realize their creative potential.
What is your favorite topic to teach within your specialty? I love teaching any kind of art but I think my favorite is ceramics right now.
What’s the most fun part of your job? Learning and laughing with the students.
What’s the least fun part of your job? Grading
How and why do you integrate career education topics into your curriculum? I love to engage students with real artists in the community who create everyday to make a living. During our winter activities/WILD program combination we took a small group of students to art museums and artist studios in the area and it was awesome!
What types of careers are related to your teaching specialty? The wonderful thing about art is that every job needs some sort of creativity but more specifically I would say graphic design, photographer, potter.
What advice would you give to students who want to enter a career related to your teaching specialty? I would say be patient, being successful takes time.
What advice would you give students in order to help them be successful in higher education or at a job after high school? (What do you wish you had known?) What I wish I would have known is that you have to put yourself out there for people to see your artwork and know how great you are.
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Teacher Feature is a series to celebrate educators who are leaders in career education. It is produced by the Pipelines and Pathways Program (P3) which provides employment oriented career-planning for the region’s high school students. It brings training in 21st Century skills, work-based learning, and personal learning plan (PLP) engagement opportunities to all public high schools in Windham County. Pipelines & Pathways is a Brattleboro Development Credit Corporation (BDCC) Workforce Center of Excellence program based on strategies to increase the size and quality of the workforce developed by Southeastern Vermont Economic Development Strategies (SeVEDS). For more information please visit https://brattleborodevelopment.com/
To nominate an outstanding teacher for our series, please reach out to cbetit@brattleborodevelopment.com
Funding for P3 is provided by the McClure Foundation, Vermont Training Program, Vermont Community Foundation, the Windham County Economic Development Program, the Thomas Thompson Trust, the George W. Mergens Foundation, People’s United Bank, Tom Smith & Omega Optical, and the Whitney Blake Company in Bellows Falls.
