Scott Schimmel 0:00
Hey everybody welcome back to another episode of YouSchool Podcast. I'm here with a friend and neighbor, Lauren DeCaprio, who is? Well, you tell me who you are Lauren? Oh, gosh, the good, the bad, the ugly, getting the bad, are you?
Unknown Speaker 0:31
Well, I'm all kinds of things, I think I'm a mom of two boys 10 and 11. I'm a graphic designer by trade. And I am a ceramics teacher at the high school level at Del Norte High School. And so I teach. And I find myself helping in almost every place in my world. So
Scott Schimmel 1:01
every year, it seems like everywhere you go, you're there. And probably vice versa. And I don't know a bunch of your like kind of origin story, especially for teaching education. Was that the plan? I may have been a training graphic designer, did you have a different career before schools.
Unknown Speaker 1:21
So I think that always said growing up, oh, like, in another life, I'd be a teacher. Two of my three sisters or teachers, I watched them go through the process. I was a finance major at San Diego State with an emphasis in graphic design. So sort of the plan was always to do something creative. I thought maybe I'd be a chef, I thought I would be a makeup artist for busy special effects, Hollywood movies, I was always kind of doing something sort of crafty and creative. So I did go into graphic design. Now as a graphic designer for about 10 years. I own my own company, and I do all kinds of things. Really anything that I find myself into restaurant, I worked in restaurants forever. So I would do a lot of like mailers, collateral menu, design, mural work, just kind of anything that sort of found its way to me, I do a lot of special event designs, so like invitations and event stationery and things like that. And I was sort of at this crossroads where I was working at restaurants in restaurants. And I had my two boys. And so I was working nights a and I just kind of kept feeling a calling for the classroom. And I called one of my sisters. And I said, I don't know, you know, I was already kind of well into my 30s. And I thought, just Can I still do that? Like, is it okay to change now and but support from my family and my friend group. And so I just walked into a credentialing office. And I just said, When can I start? And I started the next week. And it was really fast. From there, I I found myself in a local, you know, local high school in the classroom setting in a ceramics room, I'd had some experience with pottery, just throughout my education, but never really, it's never really initially a passion. I just thought it was
Scott Schimmel 3:49
like the job opening with ceramics and you're like, I can figure that out. Yeah,
Unknown Speaker 3:53
I can do that. I'm like, let's go. I mean, it's like one of the oldest art forms of all time. So I was like, you could do this. And I've since found a just such a love for it from, like, what it can offer the students. And just watching that process. It's kind of in a neat combination with part of my work being totally technology driven. And then the other part being almost zero technology. So kind of cool to have both. So now I've been teaching for seven years right up the street, and it really can't imagine a better balance for sort of both sides of my brain.
Scott Schimmel 4:39
But as you as you've gotten to know, useful you know that we care about kids and helping them figure out life and particularly how to build a meaningful life and and we've developed these series of questions that we think if a kid can answer these questions clearly and confidently. They'll have the foundation for a meaningful life and the one on one that talk to you about is is probably the one that has been challenged the most over the years challenge in that sense that people would say it's not essential. It's not it's not absolute necessary necessity for someone to live life well. And I just continue to fight it. And so I'm hoping I'm hoping to get some, some material from you to bid to argue this. And the question is, you can ask in a variety of ways, but the question essentially, is, what's what's beautiful to you? What do you find to be beautiful? And embedded in that question, is the assumption that you do find things beautiful, obviously. And by asking the question, there's an implication that that's important that that's valuable. So, you know, that's the big context. But I want to go back a little bit in your story. You've you've got a couple sisters who are in education, but where does the creative part come from? And, and I know that art and beauty aren't, you know, it's almost too easy to say those are the same. But where does that come from? For you? Are you from an artist family? It was at a cultivated in you early on.
Unknown Speaker 6:10
Ah, it's funny. This conversation just came up recently with my sisters, but I definitely get it from both my parents, mostly my mom, my mom was a very crafty individual we had we kind of converted like half of our garage into what I like to call like a Michaels craft store. It just, like, glitter exploded everywhere, and coffee paints and ribbons, and she was an amazing seamstress. And she had a really creative and crafty brain. She was always making our Halloween costumes and prom dresses and crazy Easter bonnets. And the glue gun was like her best friend. And so it was always part of my life to just be around all things arts and crafts. In high school, my sister got into photography, she converted part of our garage into a dark room. I had an airbrush she was she was taking airbrush classes with me at one point when I was in like seventh grade. She just was like, all in and supportive. My dad is a little bit more, he has more strength in like thriving has mazing penmanship. He has a beautiful hand as well. So I do think it's a little bit of both. But it was definitely something that my sisters and I all grew up with this sort of pushed, I think to just constantly just go in the craft room and see where it took yet. I do think that it was just sort of sort of natural that I would find my way into something creative. Yeah.
Scott Schimmel 8:00
So teaching teaching ceramics, I actually would have no clue what the standards are, what the academic standards are for ceramics that I'm curious one, what what are they? And then two, how do you? How do you work through those two? And what are you trying to teach students when it comes to her creative and beauty, all
Unknown Speaker 8:21
that stuff? Sure, I think such an amazing part of a ceramic studio and one that I think people don't totally appreciate. And maybe I didn't need either until I sort of started to really look at it was just how much math and science exists in ceramics classroom. I mean, it's, it's all math and science at a certain point. And there's, you know, change of matter. There's, you know, contraction and expansion and proportions. And, I mean, it's just at a certain point, chemicals and chemical change and heating and cooling and breaking. And I mean, it's just pretty wild. And so I think what's super special about it is even though yes, there's absolutely something beautiful that can be made. Something that I emphasize and want the students to really appreciate. And what I find beautiful, are so much more beautiful than the finished piece is the process. I think we've all been trained to focus on sort of that final piece. What was the final score? Who was the winner and what was your grade on the test? Right? And I don't think we take enough time to just really appreciate what it took to get us there. And so so often and the way that I've formatted even my grading system has been Almost nothing to do with that final piece, I mean, I want the final piece to be beautiful to you, I want you to want to look at it, I want you to want to use it or give it as a gift. That's all wonderful. But really, it's sort of that appreciation and dedication for taking up hunk of dirt. Like using your hand and very few other tools to just make something else. And in ceramics, it's a slow process. It's a patient process. And it's one that you could do everything right. And yet, it could still be a disaster. I think there is an appreciation at the end of the day, if it if it does come out the other side, but if it doesn't, I still really focus on what did we learn from it? The fact that they came in and I just talked a lot about like, did you come in? And were you awesome? And did you like, give something to this face, other than your artwork, which again, matters but it's, it's just about more of a collective sort of us all being together and watching these projects take shape over sometimes weeks at a time.
Scott Schimmel 11:24
I took I think the only class I really remember from high school was modern art history class. And obviously very different. There was a ceramics studio next door to that class I didn't take that took this one. So I think for the arts requirement, but to this day, I that very bizarre teacher, very quirky guy taught me how to understand and appreciate art, especially modern art, obviously. What what do you do to that end? With students? How do you obviously you teach them process? And I don't know what you're doing? But how are you helping them? See the process and see the beauty behind things?
Unknown Speaker 12:08
I think it's about not coming at it from an intimidating perspective. I think if you look at master artworks everyday, and all day, there's an element of like, it's hard to bridge that gap, right? Students will be like, oh, yeah, I'm not, you know, Picasso or whatever. And so I think there's a way that you can break it down and kind of come at it from sort of their level. And I also think it's about consistency, like it's about every single day, commenting and finding things that are happening in the world around you whether it's a local story or something in your own family or something in your friend group. That if you just tell stories I feel like I just talked about my my family life my friend life what happened at the basketball game last night, you know, anything that's sort of a connector that they go, oh, yeah, that that is special. But unless you're really just talking about special things all the time are beautiful things all the time. I feel like that it feels like a lesson to them for like, Okay, kids, now we're going to talk about something that's beautiful. It's like, okay, yeah, that's beautiful. But if it's just sort of more natural, and I think you connect, you connect it to their lives. I think it goes a lot farther and then just start to start to develop sort of that sense of seeing it themselves like what what did you see right here around the room, you know, what did you see at lunchtime yesterday? What do we what are we looking at? And so I think that says
Scott Schimmel 13:53
I know you're obviously very talented and skilled which to two parts of the same coin. What what do you do because I think I've struggled throughout my life I had a mom similar to you extremely crafty and artistic and art major in college and can kind of create anything, paint anything. And I would look at that I don't have like you said about your data. skilled hand I don't have that. It's so it's taken me I think way longer into my adult years to finally say, Oh, I am a creative I create very different things. People probably wouldn't call it art. But I've ever, ever once I'm making a PowerPoint slide presentation, this goes back like 20 years. And I was like that is what I do. And, and or create an experience or create creative a space for people telling stories like you mentioned. What what do you do? And I'm I'm curious, the bridge to your own kids as well. I don't know if they have artists Stick talent. What do you do with students with kids? To help them see themselves and to not necessarily compare themselves to someone who can? Who has the talent that's different than them?
Unknown Speaker 15:11
Yeah, well, as an husband, he's an engineer. He thinks his spreadsheets are not beautiful or creative. And I'm like, that's amazing. It's totally incredible. So I hear you and I, and we have this conversation off and about, the things that I bring to the table are just visual, right? So yeah, it's easy, I think, for people to just go, oh, my gosh, she, you can see it. It's amazing. And maybe the talents that someone has a little bit more left brain has like technology, or, you know, and that's where my husband comes in. And he's like, he can like, rewire a house and make a spreadsheet and it's not cool looking. Unnecessarily, or mostly not even, you can see it often. See it. Yeah. Like, that's amazing. So one of my favorite things to do. So often, they'll come to me, and then I'll just hold out, you know, their project, and they go is this today? And I go, today? Oh, my God, I could talk about that. Yeah, email, and I just flip it. And I just say, Are you proud of it? And once I started to do that, it was kind of awesome to see students like you could see it in their face, they are now like, the best thing you've ever seen those those? You know, I? I am like, I'll be like, Do you love it? And they'll be like, I do. And so sometimes it's not even me validating it. It's them being asked that question like, What are you? What are your thoughts, right? Because it's subjective. At the end of the day, like, I talk a lot about subjectivity and art and how I might look at something and think it's the best thing I've ever seen. And you might look at it and be like me, it's not for me, right? Yeah. So I think there's a lot of both just pouring, like, complimenting confidence into them, but not so much. To tell them it's beautiful, when it's not, but you have them kind of that question. And I don't think they get asked that enough, it seems, or they're so worried about the pressure about getting an A, just, you know, from the community and peer pressure and sort of what they've been trained, that they don't even think does it look good. They're just worried about the rubric. And you go, right,
Scott Schimmel 17:49
I don't even care about the rubric.
Unknown Speaker 17:50
I mean, it's there. Because whenever you can, and I do talk a lot about that the beginning of the class, you could do really well and make, you know, mediocre projects. And so I would say that's been a big shift in the last couple of years about not only like, over emphasizing anything they do I probably am overboard at times to be like you, you you got a handle on it, like that's amazing. You're gonna be able to you can Chanel now and you know, yeah, like last year's Misty, like, Yeah, I think it is about pouring into them and just maybe being the only person in that day that saw something they did and acknowledged it and, you know, gave him a pat on the back. But then also encouraging them to decide that for themselves, and give them that space to decide. You know, sometimes a kid said, I love it, and I'll go okay. And I'm like
Scott Schimmel 19:12
It's like a resume of a Seinfeld episode where this couple has a baby and they want to share the baby off. And then Kramer's I was I was baby. But to you it's
Unknown Speaker 19:22
a beautiful movie. Yeah. I do have what
Scott Schimmel 19:26
are you doing with your joy? What are you doing with your kids, your boys as it relates to seeing beauty? What are you introducing them to things? Are you are you like a tour guide to them? Is there anything that you're doing unconsciously? Or are they just grown up in the craft room that Michaels house and so there's no chance for them not talking? It's
Unknown Speaker 19:51
a little bit of both. I think Jackson's recently gotten really into Photoshop, which is like, well, exciting and Ansel is found some really cool sort of online programming for him to really sort of, you know, learn all the tools and everything. And so I think it's supporting anytime they say I really want to try this, it's finding something where it's either a little day class or an online class or community program. But I also think it's really just about pointing it out constantly, like anything in parenting, right, you're constantly encouraging, you know, use your manners hold the door open, you know, observational skills, I think, maybe are lacking definitely at the younger ages, of course, and just being mindful that there's so much going on around you all at once, and that you're not at the center of it, right? There's all kinds of things. And so in, restaurants are on travel are out and about, it's a lot of pointing it out, like look at that's amazing. And if there's a cool story about it, or history about it, it's talking about it, reading up on it, maybe a podcast about it. So we try to incorporate all those things, and just those observational skills that you could easily walk from one place to another and not really see the world around you. So trying to acknowledge it pointed out, ask them questions about it. I think it's just really about building those tools that it just then becomes a natural part of your life that you don't even have to think about.
Scott Schimmel 21:40
Yeah, yeah. Last question. And I don't mean to, we can edit this out if you don't, if you don't if you're like I'm stomping here. So kind of a Mad Libs fill in the blank. A light a life without beauty is
Unknown Speaker 21:58
meaningless. It's great. Is that the only one
Scott Schimmel 22:06
who thinks thanks for being that? Sensitive. Thanks for being thanks, reading. Friend. Thanks for being on the show. Thanks for what you're doing with with kids. And and, you know, it's not just inspiring sounds like a cliche word. But I I like hearing how you think about this, because it helps me. You're pointing things out to me. Which then means I can point it out to the people I care about the most, which is my kids.
Unknown Speaker 22:38
I'm a big fan of what you're doing. I've got your book for my summer reading. And I think that encouraging and teaching this emotional IQ is essential. Thank you.
Scott Schimmel 22:52
Thanks, yeah. We're taking the mystery out of building a meaningful life with a step by step roadmap. In school, you're taught everything under the sun, from algebra to art history, to aerodynamics, but you're not taught how to understand yourself. Or given the tools to make sense of all the questions life throws your way. Without it, most people will take the path of least resistance, hoping it all just works out someday. That's why the YouSchool is here. for over 10 years, we've been specializing in designing transformative curriculum and learning environments to guide people through life's transitions to find, define and unleash great stories with their lives. You only get one life. You only get one story. Make sure it's the right one.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
