My name is Kaitlin Bishop, and this is my first year teaching Art here at Jackson. I attended college at Grand View University where I received both my Bachelors in Art Education grades K-12, and Bachelors in Studio/Fine Arts.  I find myself inspired by old and new artists, which in turn has an interesting effect on how I make my own art. When I am not teaching, I am usually painting, gardening, reading, exploring Des Moines, spending time with family, or hanging out with my wiener dog, Moose.  Please feel free to get in contact with me if you have any questions.  

The first thing I want students to feel when they enter our art room is excitement and creativity.  Students  of all skill levels are encouraged to use creative expression, personal experience, and experimentation to come up with new, interesting, and unique work!  I love to incorporate Art History into the class curriculum, but also introduce the students to new artists who have changed the “expectations” of art.  My hope is that seeing artists who have challenged artistic standards will inspire students to be more adventurous in their work, rather than making things that simply meet curriculum standards. Students will explore and learn about the elements and principals of design through many different techniques and methods. I love introducing a problem or question to students and having them come up with an “answer” in an artistic way.  This promotes creative thinking which extends far beyond the art classroom walls. My hope is that my passion for creating art is visible, and inspires students to expand their minds in order to create masterpieces of their own! 

My name is Rob Johnson and I have been teaching PE at Jackson since 2008. After teaching at a few other schools I finally found my home at Jackson. My focus is to get the students moving and keep them moving. We do a lot of fitness based activities as well as traditional games. I have been an athlete my whole life starting out in traditional sports and gradually getting into non-traditional ones. At Lincoln high school I played four sports and went to College and played three sports. I finished my athletic career at UNI running track for the Panthers. After college I got into rock climbing as well as long distance running and triathlons. I have climbed all over the world and having summers off I am able to go to some amazing places. I also play Ultimate Frisbee and had the opportunity to represent USA at the world championships in 2011 in Italy. We won gold! In 2013 I played for the Minnesota Windchill in its inaugural season as a professional team. We had a rough season at 4-12 but it was an amazing experience to play a professional sport. If you have any questions about what we are doing in PE feel free to contact me.

My name is Katelyn Stessman, and I am thrilled to be on the staff at Jackson Elementary as the music teacher. In 2015, I graduated from Drake University with degrees in Music Education and Saxophone Performance. Upon completion of my undergraduate studies at Drake, I earned my Masters of Music at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music in Cincinnati, Ohio. Throughout the last several years in Des Moines and Cincinnati, I have spent time serving as a private instrumental lessons teacher, a preschool teacher, and an after-school music teacher for at-risk children. I am delighted to be living in Des Moines again, and I can think of no greater joy than combining my passion for teaching music and working with children. Your students will learn to create, sing, dance, play, improvise, and collaborate with one another in our exploration of music! We will discover new concepts in music literacy, music history, and music performance. Please feel free to contact me with any questions you may have!