Jennifer Drewiske is the current art and photography teacher at Briar Woods High School and has taught in the LCPS system for fifteen years. She has taught at over seven schools during this time and has greatly impacted the community. She has served on “art curriculum committees and led High School Art Teacher professional developments,” said Drewiske. She has worked at Briar Woods for multiple years and hopes to stay for many more.
Drewiske found her love of teaching at a college fair back in high school. She always knew that she wanted to go into teaching; it was a matter of what subject she would teach. “I thought I might be a History or PE teacher because those were consistently two of my favorite classes,” said Drewiske. However, after learning about art education, she “found the idea thrilling, as if I wouldn’t be ‘working,’ but doing what I love,” said Drewiske. Attending Christopher Newport University, she earned her Bachelor of Arts in Fine Arts, a Masters in Education, and a Minor in Art History. Alongside her academic achievements, she joined a sorority, an Honorary Arts Fraternity, and met her husband. During her masters, she worked in Belize, where she worked on a comparative education course, which Drewiske said was “different from my experiences attending and teaching in Loudoun County Public Schools, and for that I am grateful.”
Drewiske has taught at 7 different schools and been an itinerant for 9. She’s taken 16 different prep courses, including “K-5, Art 1 through 3, Art and Architecture 1 and 2, Photography 1 and 2, Sculpture, and Drawing and Painting,” said Drewiske. She has also “had the pleasure of teaching at Freedom, Stone Bridge, Lightridge, Briar Woods, Mill Run, Hillside and Moorefield.”
Her favorite thing about teaching is students, ‘aha’ moments, and helping students navigate through high school, regardless of whether they’re pursuing art or education. Her main goal is to make sure her students feel, “welcome, appreciated, and safe,” said Drewiske. She used to joke that she just blew in the wind between her many accomplishments and locations. However, after all of her career, she’s ready to “finally put down some roots.”
