WHHS Fine Arts Department |
WHHS Fine Arts VisionThe West Hall Fine Arts is striving to become a state and nationally recognized program for students across Hall County and a cornerstone of the local West Hall High School community. WHHS Fine Arts MissionOur mission is to develop student artists that exemplify the highest standards of arts education, connect students with opportunities for leadership and community involvement, and provide them with a global perspective while embracing their own culture. |
WHHS Visual Arts Strategy for Success
Our strategy within the WHHS Visual Arts is innovative and research-validated. We designed our curriculum and instructional strategies to meet learners at all levels and with a variety of learning styles. We aim to teach discipline-based art education, supported by the Georgia Standards of Excellence, to foster a readiness for life after high school. We do this through the incorporation of 21st century skills development in a trauma-informed learning environment while leveraging aspects of positive psychology to meet our pedagogical goal: the pursuit of human flourishing.
We are reviewing our data regularly to ensure our vision for our students is practical and attainable.
WHHS Visual Arts Statement of Intent
The West Hall High School Visual Arts program embraces unique and creative thinking while striving to integrate skills development with arts-based knowledge acquisition. Through this integration and focus on 21st century skills within their Visual Arts classes, students will become better prepared to address the challenges that await them post-graduation.
As students explore their art-making capabilities, they explore who they are. The Visual Arts lead to the development of creative and caring individuals who are motivated to pursue what interests them and self-disciplined enough to follow that pursuit to conclusion. Students involved in the arts are knowledgeable and inquisitive and are able to strengthen their thinking through the sustained investigation that the art-making process requires.
The production of high-quality art fosters a positive work ethic while cultivating effective time management skills, accountability, reliability, and a sense of professional etiquette. Students will collaborate to solve problems, support and encourage one another, and endeavor together to build a respectful, inclusive learning community that celebrates diversity.
Upon completion of the West Hall High School Visual Arts program, students will be more than simply confident artists capable of conceptualizing and producing original ideas with technical and creative proficiency, but young adults ready for the world ahead of them.
Ms. Jennifer Griner
SNN QUARANTINE Interview with Ms. Griner
Ms. Jeni Griner currently teachers Visual Arts Comprehensive II, and Honors VAC III-V, AP 2D Art & Design, and IB Art at West Hall High School in Oakwood, GA. She is also a co-sponsor for the WHHS National Art Honor Society and was recognized as the Georgia NAHS sponsor of the year in 2018.
Ms. Griner completed her Masters of Art in Teaching at Georgia Southern University in 2007 and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Commercial Art at Brenau University in 1996. Before she stated teaching Ms. Griner spent 5 years in the corporate world as a Graphic Designer; during that time she was responsible for much of the signage for the 1996 Olympic Yachting events and for the 1995 Northeast Georgia ADDY Awards. She began her teaching career in 1997 at Calvary Baptist Day School in Savannah, GA before becoming the fine arts department chair at her alma mater, Southeast Bulloch High in Brooklet, GA in 2002. She moved her family to north Georgia in 2009 where she taught visual arts and graphic design at the Gwinnett School of Mathematics, Science, and Technology for eight years and at Peachtree Ridge High School for the next two. In August of 2017 she moved to Flowery Branch, GA and immediately fell in love with the small town lake life. In 2019 she was offered the job at West Hall High School, only five minutes from her home. She and her significant other, Rob, rescued a silver lab named Sidney in 2017 and a black and tan hound in 2018 and they enjoy spending time on the lake with their puppies. Aside from her love of everything art, in her free time Ms. Griner also looks forward to spending time with her two adult sons, Joshua and Brandon, visiting her family in Savannah, attending concerts and horror conventions, and living the lake life. |
Ms. Christina Starlin
Ms. Christina Starlin teaches Visual Arts I and Ceramics I and II at WHHS. She is a co-sponsor of the WHHS National Art Honor Society.
Ms. Starlin started her career in the arts as a photographer. She was responsible for images published in the NGCSU (now UNG) newspaper and for recording Visual Arts Events for the Department of Visual Arts at UNG. The majority of Ms. Starlin's photographic work is contemporary portraiture. In addition to photography, Ms. Starlin worked as a graphic designer, focusing on business branding and stationery design. Ms. Starlin completed her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Art Education at Georgia State University in 2019 and completed her Masters in Art Education with Piedmont University in 2022. She enjoys spending time with her two boys, Michael (11) and Maddox (9) and her dog, Sunny. | ||
