FMU Art Education Alumni "Working In The Business"

Joshua L. Adams (FMU 2005)

Josh is employed at Florence County School District 5. He has taught art at Johnsonville Elementary School since 2006, shortly after graduating from Francis Marion University. He also serves as a youth leader for his church and plays in a Christian rock band called Cross Covenant. The group recently released their first album.

Travis Allen (FMU 2005)

Travis works for Dillon County School District 3. He is the art teacher at Latta High School, a position he has held since shortly after graduation from Francis Marion University.

Michele Stephens Allen (FMU 2006)

Michele has been employed since 2009 at Dillon County School District 4 working as an elementary school art teacher. Before this, she was a high school teacher for the Lee County School District for three and one half years.

Murriel Calcutt (FMU 1993)

Murriel is currently teaching art and department chair at Hannah-Pamplico High School. After receiving the South Carolina Art Education Association's Art Student Award in 1992, she graduated from FMU as an Elementary Education and Art Education major in 1993. She was awarded District Teacher of the Year in 2000 and Wal-Mart Teacher of the Year in 2001. In 2003 she received her Masters in Creative Arts and Learning from Lesley University.

Scott Collins (FMU 1994)

Scott is the long-time art teacher at Marion High School. He has been the Fine Arts Department Chair for the school since 2000. He was named the Marion High School and Marion County District 1 teacher of the year for the 2002-2003 school year. He has also served as the lead teacher for the Horizon Gifted and Talented Visual Arts Program from 1997-2004 for fourth through sixth grades and 2007-present for seventh and eighth grades.

Krystal Leigh Gause Fuentes (FMU 2005)

Krystal has been employed by Florence County School District 2 since shortly after graduation from Francis Marion University. She is the art teacher for Lake City High School. She earned a Master's Degree in Technology in Education from Lesley University.

Amber Hekman (FMU 2012)

Amber received the Donna H. Goodman Community Service Award for 2011-2012. She has accepted a position teaching art at Lucy T. Davis Elementary School in Florence School District 1.

Marjorie Elaine Henry (FMU 2003)

Marjorie received the 2001-2002 Dr. John W. Baker Memorial Scholarship, which is awarded for outstanding contribution by a junior in art or music. She is employed by Florence County School District 1 as an art teacher at Henry Timrod Elementary School.

Melissa Dawn Johnson (FMU 1999)

Melissa is a employed by the Florence County School District 1. She has worked for a number of years as an art teacher at Henry L. Sneed Middle School.

Jessica Lombardi (FMU 2010)

Jessica received the 2008-2009 Dr. John W. Baker Memorial Scholarship, which is awarded for outstanding contribution by a junior in art or music. She is currently pursuing her master's degree in art education at the University of Texas, Austin. She is working on her thesis, entitled "Power to the Pupil!: One School's Bridging of Construction, Curriculum, and Caring," a case study of the Griffin School, a private art school. She is on schedule to graduate in 2012.

Jill Lynch (FMU 2010)

Jill works in the Williamsburg County S.C. School District where she is employed at Kenneth Gardner Elementary School teaching art to third though fifth grades.

Heather Elizabeth McKissick (FMU 2006)

Heather has been employed at Florence County School District 1 since graduating from Francis Marion University. She is the art teacher for Southside Middle School.

Lyn O'Donnell (FMU 2002)

Lyn received a BFA from Coastal Carolina University with a concentration in the Visual Arts. After receiving her teaching certificate from Francis Marion University in 2002 she began teaching Visual Arts in Darlington County. In 2007 Lyn completed her master's degree from Columbia College. After teaching elementary school for 5 years, she now teaches at Mayo High School for Math, Science, and Technology and at Darlington County Intervention School.

Andrew Russel Stout (FMU 2003)

Andrew is the current executive director of the Florence Museum of Art, Science, and History. Under Andrew's leadership, the museum has undertaken major renovation of art exhibition space, which has included the indefinite loan of the Francis A. Lord Civil War collection, the donation of textiles from various global cultures by Andries and Linda Van Dam, and the acquisition of a landscape oil painting by Florence native, William H. Johnson. A new 11.7 million dollar building is currently in the planning stages for the museum in downtown Florence. The new museum will be 28,000 square feet with 11,000 square feet of exhibition space. Prior to being named the executive director of the museum, Stout taught art at Johnsonville Elementary School.

Jessie Welch (FMU 2010)

Jessie received the 2010 award as outstanding graduating senior in art. He is employed at Florence County School District 4. He is an itinerant art teacher at Brockington Elementary, Johnson Middle, and Timmonsville High Schools. He was employed there shortly after graduating from Francis Marion University.

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