Betsy Dunham, the media arts teacher at Penn High School in Mishawaka, has devoted her life to teaching the craft of photography. Dunham’s dedication to inspiring her students is more than just a job, but rather a wholehearted mission to inspire her students to keep moving forward.
“I really love candid, real, raw-type photography. I love documentary moments that happen,” said Dunham. “Photography has always been something that automatically inspires me to capture memories.”
Dunham’s love of teaching is something that has been inherent since the very beginning—from lining up her stuffed animals at her home chalkboard to inspiring Penn’s next generation of photographers. Starting with an interest in teaching mathematics, Dunham always knew she wanted to teach at the high school level. After getting involved in the art program at John Glenn High School in Walkerton, she found her passion for the arts while student-assisting the art teacher all four years.
“That teacher really inspired me to pursue teaching the arts,” said Dunham. “I told him I wanted to be a teacher and he gave me a lot of knowledge. I had also taken a year of photography, and that teacher taught darkroom photography. I fell in love with it. The program was stopped after I took it, and my family bought the equipment auctioned off from the school and we built a darkroom in my home. It is still in my parent’s home.”
After high school, Dunham pursued her calling to become a teacher. She received her bachelor of science in art education at Indiana University (IU) Bloomington, with a focus in photography. Though starting the BFA program, Dunham decided her degree was efficient enough in teaching her preferred age group. At that time, she also decided to fulfill her heart’s wishes of getting married and starting a family.
“My kids are my big inspiration to continue to take photos,” said Dunham. “I love capturing moments of my children with their grandparents and great grandparents. As my children continue to grow, I am fascinated by this concept of stopping time and keeping the memories forever.”
While attending a job fair at IU Bloomington, Dunham interviewed with Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation. After being offered a middle school art teaching position and a high school photography teacher position, Dunham chose the latter, honoring the specialty she acquired from undergrad. Since then, she has been a vessel of creativity in her classroom and darkroom at Penn.
“It has been amazing that our facility both has and allows me to teach darkroom photography,” said Dunham. “I get to teach about analog photography, phone cameras and developing film and prints in a dark room. There is something so satisfying about that process. My upper level students get into Photoshop, digital and color too, but I still love starting with old school processes.”
Within the classroom setting, Dunham often creates safe spaces for her students to promote vulnerability and self-expression with their projects. Dunham’s strategy for teaching is encouraging her students to be uplifting and building positive relationships with each other.
“We do art critiques, but I try to soften the word ‘critique’ because photography should not be intimidating,” said Dunham. “Art critiques are about fostering and creating an open conversation about our art. As my students get more advanced, we get a little more in depth because they are becoming more self expressive and purposeful in their art. I build my classroom like a family. We are here to uplift each other and encourage each other to be the best artist they can be.”
As Dunham reflects on her time teaching at Penn, she takes pride in all of her students. Her job is more than just a career, but an investment in the future happiness of her students.
“All of my students are unique,” said Dunham. “They all have passions. They all have a story and I love getting to know their stories. I love getting to see them have those a-ha moments and exciting moments. I even appreciate those sad moments, because even though my students are going through it all, they still come out on top and keep moving forward. I get to see students just starting out and, by the end, I see how far they have come. It is amazing and I love seeing where they are now.”
Dunham’s love of photography extends outside the classroom. In her free time, she loves spending time with her family and loves filling her home with framed photos of both family portraits and happy moments in her children’s lives. She also makes herself available to do professional photos, such as for weddings and senior portraits. In addition, she takes time traveling as often as she can—having even embarked on trips as far as Rome and the Amazon Rainforest. For her, her family, career and life are all about capturing the beauty that life has to offer.
“One of my favorite quotes from a photographer, who was asked what her favorite photo she ever took was, and said, ‘The one I am going to take tomorrow.’ I would say the same thing to my students. Life is the same way, you should look forward to tomorrow and know it is going to get better.”
As she enters the coming school year, she is most excited to meet her students and see how their journeys unfold.
“Do not be afraid to make mistakes,” said Dunham. “I want my students to be able to take comfort in the fact that they do not have to have it all figured out. You can take one step at a time, go toward your goals and eventually get to that goal.