Mari Boning

Background

About Mari Boning

My current goal is to learn more about the educational landscape, how to create a positive classroom environment, and how to help children with diverse needs to discover, explore, and enjoy new skills. I am interested in the possibility of designing lessons or curriculum that utilize arts integration with SEL and self-advocacy, but am also interested in how currently used curriculums are designed to help to meet the needs of diverse learners. Some information about my background: I have a passion for art in all forms. I love the potential for art and design to inspire joy, communicate feelings, form or strengthen connections between people, inspire new feelings and experiences, and provoke thought. I have a degree in Studio Art, with a minor in Western Art History. On the recommendation of a couple of my professors, I became involved in art instruction as well as studio work. I first became interested in elementary education when volunteering with SMART, a literacy initiative in Oregon. This was shortly before I graduated, and I maintained my focus on art at that time. After graduating, I continued volunteering with SMART in Oregon public schools, and taught art classes to adults. Around this time, I spent several years working in specialty cake decorating, including sculpted cakes and sugarcraft techniques for weddings and special event desserts, where I worked collaboratively, both learning from and teaching skills to coworkers. Becoming a parent made my interest in education both more personal and more urgent. My child's IEP was my introduction to special education, and I sought to become a better parent, to learn more about humanity and psychology, and to connect to a larger community of people, ideas, and needs. I became interested in and started learning about neurodevelopmental differences and special education, including related topics such as modifying curriculum or lesson plans, child developmental psychology, occupational therapy, sensory processing issues, childhood trauma, C-PTSD, speech language pathology, emotional-regulation, co-regulation, human potential, healthy self-esteem, and neurodivergent self-advocacy. I am currently working in public education as an instructional assistant in special education. I am learning more about elementary education and teaching methods for diverse styles of learning, and am interested in continuing in the education field.