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Debbie Raboin, O'Fallon Township High School

Art I, Ceramics, Pottery

A believer in making connections, Debbie Raboin is always looking for ways to link her teaching to the rest of her students' experience. First, she works with teachers in other departments to knit her curriculum together with theirs. Spanish, geometry, history, physics—you name it, Raboin's classes study it as it relates to art.

Her efforts at integrating disciplines go far beyond the everyday – although, if you were aiming for simplicity, you could call them a civics lesson. In partnership with the city of O'Fallon, Raboin and her students recently transformed the newly-created Tillman Park into a sculpture park complete with concrete paths and landscaping.

Raboin hopes that working on the park will make her students feel like citizens of the art world and the world at large. “I want them to know about purchasing art – how to go to shows, talk to artists, find out what their work's about, negotiate a price. I also want them to know they can change the face of their community if they want to.”

That's why Raboin encouraged her students to do so much of the nitty-gritty work on the sculpture park themselves, from planning with city engineers to planting trees, choosing their favorite statues to contracting with the sculptor.

“A lot of times, someone their age won't get to work with the real hands-on stuff – but they did. I've had some of them comment, 'When I've got kids, I'll be able to bring them here and say to them, “I did this.”' And they did. They brought public art to O'Fallon.” So did Raboin herself.