Friday, March 4, 2022

Retirement Reflections

Hi readers - I am so sorry that it has been almost a year since my last post. I was diagnosed with a serious illness last summer and have been trying to balance school with medical treatments. I will be retiring on March 31 in order to fully focus on my health and recovery. I have had the honor of teaching at Dolvin Elementary for 26 years and a total career of 30 years, so as hard as it is to let it go, it is time.

I want to thank all of you who have followed my blog posts since the start over 10 years ago. I started it to have a new means to show off our work in the art room and make connections with our local community as well as other art education networking. Since then, social media has blossomed and other forms like Instagram have come to the forefront for ease of use and access. I will keep my blog available and will occasionally post updates since it is like an ongoing scrapbook. My primary platform from here on out will be Instagram and you can find me @smartestartists. I will also focus on growing my TPT shop- yay!

Many, many thanks for all the interest and support over the years - I am incredibly proud of my career and grateful for the opportunity to make my wildest art teacher dreams come true. Best wishes and all my love!

Mrs. Hope Knight and the Smartest Artists

9 comments:

  1. Your blog has been an inspiring source of amazing ideas over the years and I'm grateful for it. Sorry to hear about your illness but glad you are taking the time to care for yourself.
    Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you for sharing all of your thoughts and talents with us. I wish you good health and all good things in the future!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I am so sorry to read this! Your blog was one of the first that I started following. You were always such a great inspiration and source of wonderful ideas. Hopefully the extra time off will help to heal your body. Take care- you have lots of fans! xoxo Donna

    ReplyDelete
  4. I have always enjoyed your blog. As others have mentioned, it was (and continues to be!) one of the first art teacher blogs I turned to. I'm glad you will be taking time for yourself, and wish you only good things in retirement. I hope you gain full health to enjoy your time. All the best in the future, and thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I'm so sorry to hear about your illness. I wish you good health! I've enjoyed reading your blog over the years!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thank you for your years of sharing. Wishing you the best as you care for yourself now.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I hope you have a great recovery and thank you for all your hard work that you have shared with us.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Wishing you all the best with your health 💗 I have enjoyed doing your memory bowls with both my children’s 5th grade classes - a “memory” of the art they’ve done in their elementary years as they move on to middle school. Thank you for the inspiration!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Sending you healing thoughts! I have thoroughly enjoyed your blog during my years teaching. I retired last June because I also knew it was "time". Best wishes!

    ReplyDelete

Comments are very appreciated - thanks for stopping by!