Burke teaches art to at-risk students

Mike Burke ’01 majored in secondary education and art at Cornell. From 2002 through 2006, he taught at-risk students at Colorado High School Charter in Denver before moving into a district-wide technology role.

What courses did you teach?
I taught Enrichment, which is a class that focuses on creative/artistic topics and applies them to the core knowledge classes.  The class was mainly an art class, but I focused on key skills like writing and note taking to create an interdisciplinary experience.

What did you like most about the job?
What I loved about teaching these students was watching them become successful in school. I cherished the positive relationships that I was able to develop with students that felt like no one cared about them. I also had the freedom to teach many different topics due to our nine block schedule.  In many ways it was like teaching on the block plan at Cornell College. I was able to build my own ceramics studio that was modeled after the old ceramics studio in Armstrong Hall.  I taught classes that ranged from drawing the human form to video production.  It was truly an awesome experience.

How did your Cornell experience inspire or prepare you for your career?
I feel that a liberal arts education prepared me immensely for working with the students I worked with.  People like Chris Penn-Goetsch, Doug Hanson, Dick Peters, Gayle Luck, Kerry Bostwick, John Harp, Karla Carney, and Steve Miller were instrumental in shaping me into a teacher and helping young people realize their potential. It was all of these people that inspired me to make change in the world.

What was best about studying art at Cornell?
The intense 18 days of the block plan — it was the best way to develop my skills and ideas about what my art was all about.  The professors in the art department are excellent at pushing students to the next level and inspired me to explore the possibilities of what art can be.  Preparing for my senior thesis was one of the best experiences I have ever had in creating art.

What do you do outside of work?
I also coach football at Holy Family High School.  We won the state championship in 2005.  I still create and sell my ceramics.  I would like to get back into sculpting stone but need a large enough space to make that sort of mess!