Mrs. Suzanne Erickson  

Email: Click Here

Phone: 480-472-9971

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.

Henry David Thoreau  

Biography

This is the life of my dreams and what all of my life's experiences have prepared me to do. Growing up, Junior High was my favorite time as a student and the most memorable.  It is an important time in a person's life, and my Junior High Art teachers made a great impact on mine. Because of that,  I feel very fortunate to be here. I am surrounded by a great staff and the most incredible students.

My career didn't start out in teaching. I received my Bachelor's degree from the University of Arizona and shortly afterwards worked as an Early Intervention Specialist in south Phoenix. I worked with Developmentally Disabled children ages birth through three and their parents. In conjunction with an OT, PT, and Speech Therapists, I made home visits, teaching the parents developmentally appropriate activities designed to enhance their child's social, emotional, physical, and cognitive development.

After the birth of my two boys, I decided to go back to school to obtain my teacher certification. I attended Ottawa University and took night classes.  I was hired with the Mesa School District and have been teaching for over 13 years. My career started  teaching First and Second grade students and I did that for six years.  My students were mostly children whose primary language was Spanish. It was then, that I completed the course work to obtain my ESL Endorsement.  Living in Mexico City, during my High School years, created a love in me for other cultures and languages. I understood what it was like to live in another country and not to understand the language. 

Long story short, I have always enjoyed teaching subjects that were 'creative' in nature. I also re-discovered how great the 'older' children were. I knew what I wanted to do and that was to teach Art at the Junior High level. I had a deep desire to explore these 'uncharted waters' and took classes for the next several years to be able to do so.

My husband has always been supportive of me and all of my life's adventures. In addition to teaching, I create in several mediums, primarily fused glass and sterling silver. I own and operate an online shop and have been selling online and locally for several years now.

I have been at Smith since 2002, the second year after it opened. As I mentioned earlier, I feel very blessed to be here and I love what I do. I thoroughly enjoy teaching students Introduction to Art, General Art, and Sculpture and Ceramics. Being a part of this incredible school is where I want to be. I can't imagine teaching anywhere else, nor would I want to.

Thank you for allowing me to be a part of your child's life.

-Mrs. Erickson