Lauren Arroyo began working at Sequoyah in 1992, teaching art and supporting the Backyard’s very creative and emergent curriculum. Discovering how much she enjoyed teaching art, Lauren pursued her BA at Pacific Oaks Teaching College in human development with a specialization in art education. After graduating, she moved into the position of Art Specialist, where she saw the value of an integrated curriculum and its importance in offering children many different opportunities to learn through the creative voice found in art. Lauren realized the importance of providing a safe place for students to take risks and build confidence.

After several years as the art specialist, she had truly fallen in love with the youngest students in the kindergarten/first grade. Here she saw the opportunity to provide a creative and exciting class while offering them a fun, warm, safe, and nurturing place. She felt her strength was in embracing the individuality of each student and encouraging them to discover their own strengths, and how to engage in learning from their own perspectives.

She then took the next step and returned to Pacific Oaks to earn an MA in human development and to complete her education credential. Her thesis explored geo-ethnic storytelling with young students – an intercultural approach to diversity through personal family stories from the students and their families.