Imperial natives among participants at state art conference

Chadron State College Art Education students Marissa Borchard and Carissa Hill attended the Nebraska Art Teacher Association (NATA) Conference in Lincoln on Oct. 13-14 with Associate Professor Trudy Denham.
At the conference, Hill presented the NATA Nebraska Secondary Art Teacher of the Year award to Chelsea Zuege, her former high school art teacher who she nominated for the award.
“Presenting the award to Mrs. Zuege was very special. She inspired me to pursue art education. She is a positive role model for her students in and out of the classroom. She encourages her students to grow in their creative skills through artistic preferences. She also dedicates much of her time to her community,” Hill said.
Hill said the two-day conference was useful and practical. She will graduate in May and plans to attend the conference next year as a first-year teacher.
“I learned a lot about how to construct a curriculum based on student inquiry. Many sessions included information about assessment, lesson planning, and building teacher-student relationships. The most impactful information I obtained was how to implement choice-based learning within the art classroom,” Hill said.
Borchard will be graduating in May of 2025. This was her first NATA conference.
“Attending the conference gave me many opportunities to talk to teachers of all ages. There were other pre-service students, first-year teachers, teachers who have been teaching for many years, and even retired teachers. Being surrounded by so many people with teaching experience gave me insight on what to expect, fun stories, and reassurance that teaching is a great career to go into,” Borchard said.
Hill said she was excited to learn how art teachers apply topics she is learning about in her CSC classes.
“Being able to see how teachers are using different strategies and techniques helped me to conceptualize those topics,” Hill said.
Hill met art teachers from around the state ranging from those who teach one course in a large school to those who teach all K-12 art classes in a small school.
“Speaking with these art teachers allowed me to think about where and what grade levels I would like to teach in the future. I asked a lot of questions and had impactful discussions with a couple of first-year teachers about the challenges they are facing and how they are overcoming them,” Hill said. “I also met the cooperating teacher I’m matched with for student teaching in the spring. We got to know each other better and share ideas for the upcoming semester.”
Borchard said she received information about position openings and advice about master’s degree programs. She said she also participated in creative and engaging activities she plans to use in her future classroom.
“My favorite workshop was called Spicy Painting. We used different natural spices such as coffee, paprika, turmeric, curry powder, and brown ginger to paint on watercolor paper,” Borchard said.
Chadron State College, which was founded in 1911, is the only four-year, regionally-accredited college in the western half of Nebraska. As a public institution with its roots in teacher education, Chadron State takes pride in its accessibility and affordability. More than 2,000 undergraduate, graduate and online students currently attend Chadron State.