Colleen Keeley started her teaching career at Oyster River High School (ORHS) in a pair of red adidas Gazelles, and a thrifted t-shirt with birds printed on the front in black ink from her hand carved stamp.
Keeley is both filling a needed position and bringing a new wave of creativity to the ORHS art department, already creating a notable presence for herself in the art room. Her students have learned how she’s receptive to clarifying questions, but also easy to converse with about music or hobbies.
Age and relatability are concerns every new teacher has, but Ella Boyd (‘25) noticed how Keeley is truly making an effort to connect with her students. Boyd says, “You can tell how she’s expressing her own interest in certain areas, especially in music. She has a playlist with her favorite artists for the class and will really connect to kids with similar music taste.”
Most importantly, her sense of creativity is present in her self expression. “I don’t usually include art in my introduction. I just assume people know I’m into art because I teach art,” said Keeley. Although it’s assumed, it’s cool to know she might be wearing one of her own creations, like her bird stamped t-shirt.
Keely’s custom made card deck
To spark this creativity outside the classroom, Keeley finds small ‘bucket list’ items to keep herself entertained. This past summer, Keeley described her list. She said, “They’re silly things. Paint a tote bag, make a calendar, have cheese and crackers at the beach.”
Her experience with art classes in high school set off her ability to express her creativity freely. “My art teacher was such a positive person in my life. Even though I didn’t feel like I was the best student, but, she pushed me to take AP or honors art classes. For once, a teacher was noticing something I’m good at,” said Keeley.
Her path since high school hasn’t been completely straightforward, but she knew she was meant to end up teaching high schoolers. When she graduated from college, she landed her first job teaching art in a kindergarten-eighth grade environment. After eight years, she eagerly moved on to ORHS, saying that, “Now I feel comfortable, I know what I’m doing, and I’ve felt like I always wanted [to teach high school], and it’s the right time in my career.”
Keeley’s printmade art piece
ORHS is a completely different environment compared to a K-8 school, which left Keeley out of her element at first.“My classes have been silent, everyone is listening and attentive, and there’s no little kids saying ‘can I tell you about my birthday party this weekend?’’’ Keeley said.
The teaching habits she built after eight years spent teaching K-8 have influenced the way Keeley has started off her time at ORHS. She prioritizes the basics and safety. Boyd, who’s taking her Introduction to Sculpture class, said, “She’s done a great job teaching the basic skills you need to know as a beginner. For example, we’re using Exacto knives in our projects, and most kids have used them before. But, she’s starting from the top with the safe ways to use them and the way to maximize the tool.”
Keeley is also teaching Introduction to Art and Introduction to Digital Art. While she’s only working with introductory level classes, she’s happy to be getting comfortable with the different materials and skills the ORHS art department has to offer.
Keeley’s orginal artwork
Art teacher Maria Rosi said, “Ms. Haudenschield and I gave [Keeley] a binder with everything as the curriculum currently exists, and she has the autonomy as a teacher here at Oyster River to use that or adjust it to her liking.” Even with this opportunity, Keeley is enthusiastic about the curriculum in place already.
While Intro to Art is similar to what she has taught before, she’s excited to branch outside of her comfort zone while teaching. She said, “Sculpture was something I was super excited about because I really liked it in high school. Digital art is something I’ve never had to teach, but it’s something I’ve been teaching myself at the same time, so I’m excited to dive into that one.”
Although Keeley has only just begun to bring her talents to the ORHS art department, it welcomes her with nothing but enthusiasm. Rosi said, “Ms. Keeley, Ms. Haudenschield and myself, all agree we feel as though we’re at the beginning of a really wonderful team.”
-Amelia Rury
Mouth of the River 
Leave a Reply