Imagine being placed into a classroom with 50 kindergarteners and being told to teach them art — without any supplies. That does not sound like an ideal first day, but it was a reality for Lane art teacher, Ms. Diamond, early in her teaching career.

  Prior to teaching at Lane, Diamond taught at Fermi Elementary School, which was shut down in 2014. Her class was constantly altered and she never had the same students from the first to the last day. She was not handed any materials, and had to come up with ways to teach her students the art she wanted to convey to them.

  Diamond has been teaching at Lane for five years now. She currently teaches AP 2-D Design, Honors Digital Imagery II, and Media Crew — all courses she created herself

  One of the most recent classes Diamond developed is Media Crew. Diamond noticed that a lot of her students were being pulled out of her class to take pictures for school events such as Pep Rally and sporting events, so she decided to make Media Crew an official class.

  “We did a trial run, and it was a club last year,” Diamond said. “This year it’s a class, but the students that are unable to fit it in their schedule are extra photographers.”

  Digital Imagery II is a photography-based class that teaches students how to use their cameras-learning the functions and the different settings of a camera- and explore the possibilities with photography.

    “I try to teach you guys all the basics, and I want to encourage your vision,” Diamond said. “I don’t want you to do things in my style. I try to show enough variety where you’re not trying to do it ‘right,’ you’re hitting the skills I want you to learn but you’re using your creativity to shape your projects.”

  Bella Taylor, Div. 872, acknowledged Diamond’s unique teaching style.

  “She really gives a lot of leeway for creativity,” Taylor said. “Also she lets us have an independent learning style but also gives us guidance, and I feel that’s what we need as young artists, to have someone there but also to be able to experiment.”

   From an early age, Diamond always wanted to be a teacher. She comes from a family of teachers, but everything she knows about photography and digital design, she has taught herself. Taking Digital Imagery II as a sophomore in high school transformed her views on photography, and she became obsessed with it.

  “It was the only way that I was really able to communicate to others how I saw the world, which is what I love the most about photography,” Diamond said.

  Although she loves to teach, Diamond says it’s hard to create her own artwork during the school year, so she saves it for the summer.  

  The projects Diamond assigns each have a theme, yet she does not receive any of the same work.

  “It gives me insight into art and I’m able to make those connections with all of you, versus with a different subject, I wouldn’t have that opportunity to do that,” she said.

  Emma Loew, Div. 857, has taken two of Diamond’s classes, and owes everything she knows to her.

  “I did not even know how to use a camera prior to her class, and now I feel like an experienced photographer,” Loew said. “I take pictures for basketball games, the Pep Rally, and school events, which I would never be able to have done without her guidance.”

  Diamond is also the first art teacher to organize an international trip. Last year she took her students to Ireland, and this year she is taking them to Spain.

  “There is no other school that I would be able to teach the classes I teach,” Diamond said. “It’s inspiring to me as an artist because I see all of the work that you all create, and I want to do that too.”