Her Story
Jennifer Williams began teaching high school art in 1972 and taught for 32 consecutive years, at Mountain Home High School and then at Skyview High School in Nampa. When a student asked whether she was an art teacher or a professional artist first, she replied “without hesitation”: “I am a teacher.” Her classroom was featured in School Arts magazine. Students entered through a muralized doorway into a room meant to inspire creative thinking, where opinions were valued and experimenting was encouraged.
Her best-known work is Project Van Go, which takes art to rural schools with her students as “teachers for the day.” Over four decades they crisscrossed Idaho and Nevada, teaching thousands of children and painting murals at Zoo Boise, the Humane Society, the American Red Cross and nursing homes. They made 1,400 tiles for their school improvement plan and broke a Guinness record, and they painted a mural with Special Olympians returning from the games in Beijing.
Many of the schools had no art program at all. A colleague who teaches at a remote one-room school writes that Williams has come every year since, “never charges a dime,” and pays the expense out of her own pocket. Her former principal at Skyview wrote that he “never worked with anyone more professional or talented.”
Beyond the Classroom
Williams has written two textbooks for art teachers, five children’s books and many articles, and she has written state arts standards. She continues to mentor student teachers for several universities, reads grants for the National Endowment for the Arts, gives workshops for state arts and education organizations, and serves as a teaching artist for the Idaho Commission on the Arts. She also takes part in the Idaho Peace Pole Project and a free “Arts for Kids” event for 2,000 children.
Each of her children’s books supports a nonprofit. One tells the story of her rescued African tortoises that now live at the Makauwahi Cave Reserve on Kaua’i, where she volunteers each winter, and all proceeds go to the Reserve. She has used art therapy with families at the pediatric intensive care unit at St. Luke’s, and she has painted murals for police and firefighters and the Basque Association.
Philosophy Into Practice
Williams says that “the art of GIVING is integral in my lessons.” She wants students to ask “How will this help somebody else?” and to give without being asked. She argues that great teachers can overcome nearly any obstacle but need respect and support, and she has advocated for teachers and testified on education policy in Idaho.
She also worries that test scores crowd out creativity, because teachers “stop teaching their passions, and teach to the test.” She would rather see a child “creating from found materials” than looking at another PowerPoint “of something they could actually experience, touch and create.”
“My life for 43 years has been teaching.”Jennifer de Grassi Williams
In Her Own Words
“I simply live what I teach and teach what I live!”Jennifer de Grassi Williams
“My Project Van Go shows the beauty of kids teaching kids.”Jennifer de Grassi Williams
“Your calling is to teach!”Jennifer de Grassi Williams
What Others Said
“Amazing how Jennifer still embodies everything we want from an educator, because teaching is hard wired in her soul!”Sarah Sessions, nominator and former student
“She has talent beyond description and her sacrifice, hard work and passion is exhibited in everything she participates in.”Marylin Boss, teacher, Three Creek School
“I never worked with anyone more professional or talented.”Kevin Stanger, former principal, Skyview High School
“If there is a master teacher, she is one.”Lloyd Schiller, retired principal, Mountain Home High School
“She continues her mentoring and the beloved “Van Go” tradition.”Bobbi Kelly, retired art teacher, Mountain Home High School