Edgewood art teacher wins statewide award

Celia Castle teaches art to students in kindergarten through fifth grade at Edgewood Elementary School and is in the 16th year of her career.

Art has always been her “passion,” she said.

However, Castle never intended to become a teacher, even though both of her parents were educators.

As an undergraduate art major at Rhode Island School of Design, she planned to pursue a career as an artist in New York City.

But those plans changed dramatically during Castle’s junior year when she did an independent study in her mother’s third-grade classroom while recovering from foot surgery.

“This experience changed the path of my life,” she said.

Castle provided the students with inexpensive film cameras to document their lives and families. The kids then used their photos — developed by Castle in her parents’ darkroom — “as inspiration to draw, paint and write about their environment,” she said.

Castle recalls she loved seeing the “excitement” the students had for their projects and the “honesty and imagination” in their work.

“That’s when I realized I loved teaching,” she said. “I was hooked.”

Castle’s love for teaching and dedication to her craft was honored in a big way recently. The Alabama Art Education Association named Castle the Alabama Art Teacher of the Year during the AAEA fall conference, called “A Brush with Creativity,” in October at Camp McDowell in Winston County.

She will officially receive her state award during spring break when she attends the National Art Education Association Conference from March 26-28 in Minneapolis.

Winning the award was special for Castle. “I cried — lots of happy, joyful tears,” she said. “I absolutely love my job."

Castle has won other awards in the past, including Teacher of the Year in Homewood City Schools in 2011. She was also named Teacher of the Year at Edgewood Elementary School in 2011 and at Mt. Laurel Elementary School in 2009.

There are a few possible reasons why her efforts in the classroom have attracted positive attention, she said.

“I’m always on the lookout for new techniques, new artists and digital applications,” Castle said.

It is “thrilling” for her to see students “experiment with new and challenging media like clay, printmaking, stitching and design,” she said.

Her classroom is “very interactive and gets a little messy with the excitement and energy the students display,” she said.

Castle is also not afraid to be “animated and silly” if it helps her students pay attention and retain what they’ve learned.

Creating “a happy and supportive classroom” is very important, she said.

Castle is always on the hunt for “new and different resources to support the arts at Edgewood,” she said, citing grants from the Homewood City Schools Foundation and other sources.

For example, after some of her students said they wanted to learn about sewing and weaving, Castle used a grant from the foundation to buy looms and hoops to introduce the students to simple stitching techniques.

“Stitching is so social, and students are able to assist each other, build on their ideas and tell stories,” Castle said.

She also uses Edgewood Elementary’s Instagram account to display student work and inform parents.

Perhaps most importantly, Castle keeps things fresh for her students.

“I’m always changing things up,” she said. “If I get bored teaching the same lessons, my students will get bored, too.”

Castle earned her bachelor’s degree of fine arts at Rhode Island School of Design in 2003, her master’s degree in art education at the University of Tennessee in 2005 and her Education Specialist Certificate at Lincoln Memorial University in 2007.

An artist in her own right, she has continued to produce work and has exhibited numerous times, including at the Artwalk in Birmingham and the Moss Rock Festival in Hoover.

In 2019, Castle also served on the Homewood City Schools Innovation and Leadership Team, which seeks to design and implement innovative professional learning and technology integration for the system.

Castle strongly believes that making art benefits students, in part because they learn about problem solving and critical thinking.

They also “have the freedom to safely express their ideas and experiment with new media,” she said.

Castle is always open to student suggestions about the direction her classes should take. For example, a former student introduced her to Stikbot animation, and she taught her fourth-graders how to use it.

“Students still love this project today, and it’s solely based on student input,” Castle said. “A student-interest-driven curriculum keeps everyone constantly learning new things, including me.”