ABOUT MRS. LAIDLEY: LOGICALLY MINDED // CREATIVE AT HEART
I became a multidisciplinary instructor to empower a society that is becoming more complex and increasingly turbulent, while simultaneously bursting with opportunity. I hold an M.F.A. in Museum Exhibition Planning and Design from the University of the Arts, and a B.S. and B.A. in Wildlife Biology and Applied Arts from The Evergreen State College. I also hold a Career and Technical Education and Science Teacher License from Metropolitan State University and a Certificate in Design from the Alberta College of Art and Design.
I have been lucky to be a part of a few fantastic teams spanning lab work to publication for conservation research agencies and universities, exhibit concept to launch at the Science Museum of Minnesota, and curriculum to syllabus design in formal institutions. Over the past several years, I have had the additional opportunity to work as a Science, Technology, and Advisory Title 1 Educator, Education and Design consultant, ProgressNow Colorado Media Developer, substitute teacher at River Song Waldorf, and a previous Board Member for Fort Collins Creator Hub.
My experience, passion, and joy center around community building/engagement, technology and design, and supporting students to know themselves by working with their hands and others as a foundation to lifelong learning. I am a learning and creative designer, an optimist, an explorer and tinkerer that works from the inside out. I wake up every morning incredibly grateful for the family I have, the community I live in, for the staff I work with, and the students I serve. The Tech and Design Community Makerspace is a celebration of invention, creativity, and resourcefulness…a space for growth, community, craftsmanship, inspiration, and emotional well-being! I hope to see you and your loved ones there with me tinkering with courage, compassion, and connection!
Technology Education is a quarter (6th grade) and semester-long course (7th and 8th grade). It is a celebration of invention, creativity, and resourcefulness! It is open to any student fascinated by how we come to know the world and how we may or may not know the world differently. You will purposefully engage in STEAM (Science Technology Engineering Art and Math) practices, grappling with important problem solving skills, and building conceptual understanding through meaningful discourse and activity to develop and strengthen skills in all areas of design and technology. In other words, our quest in this course will be to explore many different, quirky, eccentric, and exceptional models of design and technology in order to force ourselves to think together and to live fully the life of the mind with freedom, inquiry, and exploration!