Books and Brushes

Caroline Cook currently teaches Graphic Design to 10th - 12th grade scholars at Patterson High School in Baltimore City, Maryland. This is Ms. Cook's tenth year teaching in Baltimore City Public Schools (BCPSS). Prior to teaching the Career Technical Education (CTE) pathway of Graphic Design, Ms. Cook taught Visual Art for four years to grades K-12. Her specialty is secondary Visual Art and Graphic Design education. She has served as Arts Department Chair and CTE Department Chair. She worked as a facilitator for the New Teacher Summer Institute for BCPSS. Additionally, as a Model Teacher, Ms. Cook serves on BCPSS' Joint Governing Panel.

Prior to teaching, Ms. Cook worked as the Creative Director at Rice Consulting, LLC, a Democratic political consulting firm in Bel Air, Maryland. She began teaching in 2011 with the desire to inspire, engage and empower youth through art and design.

Patterson High School (PHS), where Ms. Cook currently teaches, is the most diverse high school in Baltimore City, Maryland. Our student population includes ESOL students from 30 different countries. Twenty-one different languages are spoken at our school. Ms. Cook uses a lot of visuals, word banks, and appropriate scaffolding in her lessons to best teach my ESOL, IEP and 504 learners. Ms. Cook teaches and reaches all learners.

Ms. Cook has strong partnerships with community stakeholders including parents, local organizations and universities including the Maryland Institute College of Art and the University of Maryland Baltimore County. Strong stakeholder relationships help students acquire future college and career skills and achieve future goals. In my classroom, Ms. Cook teaches students to write resumes, prepare them for interviews and teach them financial literacy skills. Every year her senior class collaborates to establish and run their own Graphic Design company through which they they sell their own design work. This is done by completing the Junior Achievement Company Program. Ms. Cook believes in giving students as many opportunities as possible. Many of her students study Graphic Design in college while others enter the workforce and work as full time graphic designers. 98% of her PHS students have graduated with certifications in Adobe programs.

Ms. Cook believes in daily arts integration. She has worked with fellow teachers to implement arts integration lessons in Math classrooms. Reading, writing, math, and history are important parts of her curricula. Teaching an interdisciplinary curriculum helps students learn, apply, and develop math and literacy skills. Ms. Cook's curricula engages students in problem-solving and critical thinking. She delivers instruction with the mindset that every art and design lesson should be purposeful, rigorous, and deepen our students' understanding of academic content, themselves, our communities, and our world. Art is a way to inspire, motivate, and engage students.

- Model Teacher, Baltimore City Public Schools, 2019 - current

- Keynote Graduation Speaker, Defense Information School Basic Multimedia Illustrator Course, Fort George G. Meade, Maryland, 2019

- Maryland Arts Education Association Career High School Art Teacher of the Year for Baltimore City Public Schools, 2017

- Staff Member of the Year, Patterson High School, 2015, 2016, 2017

- Nominated by PHS Administration as the Baltimore City Public Schools Teacher of the Year, 2015

- Visiting Airbrush Artist, Transylvania University, Lexington, KY, 2007

- Maryland Distinguished Scholar for the Visual Arts, 2003

- Published artwork in The Baltimore Sun, b Magazine, and other print and online publications.

- Baltimore City Teaching Residency, 2011

- Maryland Certified Teacher (CTE & Visual Arts k-12), 2013 - present

- Adobe Certified Associate, 2015 - present

- Graduate level coursework in Graphic Design, Academy of Art University, 2015 - 2016

- BFA in Studio Art, Thematic Sequence in Political Science, Miami University 2008

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