Mrs Wendijk's State Recognition for Art

Mrs Karen Wendijk has been teaching Art to King’s Primary students for 19 years. She is a much-loved teacher who brings a breadth of experience and creativity to the classroom. Karen believes that God gave her the unique gift of teaching art so that He may be glorified through her classes. ‘Every time I plan a new topic for my Primary School year levels, I consider the curriculum and at the same time, I pray for the wisdom that only God can give. His inspiration leads our budding young artists to create some of the most amazing pieces of art.’

The work and methodology that Karen has demonstrated at King’s has also been recognised across Queensland. Earlier this year, QATA (the Queensland Art Teachers Association) contacted Karen and asked her to become the Primary Art Specialist Coordinator for the State. Honoured by this recognition, Karen has been planning exciting ways to engage and foster more creativity among Primary Art teachers, aligned to the new ACCARA curriculum. On Friday, 11 November, Karen organised a gathering of Primary Art Specialists hosted at HOTA on the Gold Coast. She felt privileged to have over 30 specialist teachers from schools in Queensland attend the event, both online and in-person. She led the group throughout the afternoon into the evening and was encouraged by the support of the attendees and by the future interest of others. ‘This is only just the beginning,’ she said. ‘From this initial event, we decided we would all meet once a term, with a focus on using many of the marvellous mediums that are available to us. We will collaborate and discuss how to implement and plan units using the new ACCARA curriculum V9, and its affect on the Visual Arts.’