Ocracoke Artist and Teacher Kitty Mitchell Achieves National Certification

In December, she earned her National Board Certification.  Fewer than 100,000 teachers nationwide have completed the rigorous evaluation of professional standards.  Five of them work at Ocracoke School!

First grade teacher Mary Ellen Piland got the ball rolling.  "She found it beneficial for her teaching.  I'm always looking for new and better ways to make those connections," said Kitty, who had "no idea how tough" the process would be.  "Everyone else went before and it inspired and helped," she said.

Teachers are asked to video themselves in the classroom.  They evaluate their style, organization and interaction with students in workshops and self-reflection.   There is a lot of writing and documenting.  "I felt like I was writing a doctoral thesis," laughed Kitty.

"Teaching art is messy on so many levels," observed Kitty.  "Kids interact a lot in my classes, and it's sometimes a little chaotic."   National Board Certification showed her that her collaborative methods were on the mark, and helped her become "much more effective."

As the only art teacher, Kitty works with grades Pre-K through high school.  Middle school was scary when she began teaching in 1991, admits Kitty, who said she now loves those classes because they are "smart, creative and a lot of fun."  "The little kids are adorable.  They say what they think and always want a hug."

High schoolers, "adult in a lot of ways," take art as an elective, and require one unit to graduate.  This year Kitty is also teaching an art history class to four high school students, "all bright, talented kids who ask great questions."

"Visual arts are a huge part of our economy here," said Kitty, pointing out the number of galleries and craft shops on Ocracoke.  There are opportunities to earn a living as an artist, sign painter or graphic designer on the island, and people who own and work in shops have to be knowledgeable.

National Board Certification takes anywhere from one to three years to achieve, and means Kitty can teach in any state.  She has no plans to leave Ocracoke.

Kitty's parents brought her to Ocracoke when she was really young.  "Driving off the very little ferry, I knew I was going to live here.  I started talking my parents into trying to buy property."  Her hometown of Pittsburgh "is great, but there's no ocean," she said.

She and her husband, Gary, now live on the property her family purchased in 1968.  Gary fronts the band Molasses Creek, and runs Soundside Studios, a recording studio, from their home.

Gary co-opted the name of Kitty's art studio and gallery, which she founded on Ocracoke in the 1970s.  The first studio was where the hardware store is now, and was a shared space for island artists.   Arlene Burley did leather work, and Carol O'Brien, who now owns Sunflower Center, showed her art there.

When she first moved to the island, Kitty lived in what was "basically a wooden tent" on her property, and took showers at the NPS campground, which was then in the large parking area down base (that's near the Ocracoke Preservation Society Museum and Park Service Visitor Center, for those of you from off the island!).

Her first job on Ocracoke was at the Pony Island Restaurant, back when Alec Eley owned it.  The restaurant still uses Kitty's art featuring banker ponies and a map of Ocracoke on their place mats.

Kitty and Gary married in 1983.  Daughter Katy showed up in 1988.  They started Molasses Creek with Stefan Howard and David Tweedie in 1993, and Kitty left the band when she started focusing on her National Board Certification.   She is now invested in the art teaching profession on a "different scale," and is "more involved with the North Carolina art education association.  I hope to teach more workshops," said Kitty, who also has been working as an artist in residence all over the state and volunteering as an art educator.

The construction of the new school gym displaced Kitty from her art room, half of which had to be used as a physical plant for the gym.  She is now back in the smaller space, and "thinking positive about a new art room," maybe a "wonderful space with a kiln," she said.

During the school year Kitty does very little of her own work because "Teaching takes a lot of creative energy.  I hole up and paint like a mad woman during the summer.  I like to get totally immersed."  She'll complete 20 - 30 paintings in the summer, which are on display at Deepwater Theater and at Down Creek Gallery.