Rob Garrett is an accomplished art teacher, writer, and contemporary art curator. With fine art and art history degrees from leading New Zealand Universities, he is a certified art teacher with 45 years’ experience teaching art to all ages, having worked in primary/elementary schools, high schools, and higher education art schools, including time as the Head of New Zealand’s oldest art school, the Dunedin School of Art (founded in 1870). He is currently teaching the art program at The American Elementary School in Gdynia, Poland. You will find many of his art lessons and art teaching tips online on his YouTube channel at Rob the Art Teacher. He has also had the honour of senior public service in New Zealand, first in a governance role as Council member with New Zealand’s national arts council ‘Creative New Zealand’, and then as the senior manager for national pan-arts development in the same organisation. His national and international work for and with artists has included initiating and administering artist residency programmes, artists’ wage/labour rights advocacy, managing New Zealand’s presence at the 2005 Venice Biennale of Contemporary Art, and curating numerous contemporary art exhibitions, public space festivals, artist commissions, and city-wide public art programs in New Zealand and Poland. Rob also recently became an OATK12 team leader and in recent months has been known for educating the world about Ukrainian art and artists.

Daniel Bryant is an energetic and accomplished art educator in South Carolina, USA at Dorchester County School District 2’s Oakbrook Elementary School and was the district’s 2021 Teacher of the Year. Daniel is also an OATK12 team leader and has brightened many a teacher’s day with his short videos that take a humorous look at teaching and spread joy. Bryant was born and raised in Summerville, South Carolina, graduating from Stratford High School and received his undergraduate degree in youth ministry from Charleston Southern University where he also minored in art. He later attended the College of Charleston, majoring in studio art, and received departmental honors in recognition of his distinguished performance in the field. Creating a copious array of art animation projects in his spare time, Bryant came up with the idea for the mini series, “The Boys of Valor,” as well as “Karate Dawgs,” focusing on the self esteem of children. Bryant’s love for children is also evident in his after school mentoring program where he sacrifices his personal time after work to mentor at risk boys in the areas of science, technology, and sports. He works to instill character and integrity in them, as well as the value of respecting themselves and others.

Dr. Judy Hughey, National Certified Counselor, is an Associate Professor and Coordinator and Clinical Director of Counselor Education at Kansas State University in the Department of Special Education, Counseling, and Student Affairs. Dr. Hughey was awarded the 2018 Kansas School Counselor Association Outstanding Leadership Award and named the Kansas Counseling Association 2016 (KCA) Counselor of the Year, and Northeast Kansas Counselor of the Year award. She earned a doctorate from the University of Missouri-Columbia and has been a faculty member at Kansas State since 1980. Dr. Hughey recently served as one the consultants, designers, and speakers on a COE film documentary, Becoming Trauma Responsive. The film will be shown on PBS KCPT affiliate stations and PBS nationally. On the topic of trauma, Dr. Hughey also authored a chapter titled Globalization of Trauma and the Impact on Education: Trauma, Brain Development, and Strategies by Harlow, T. (Ed.), Journey to Refuge: Understanding Refugees, Exploring Trauma, and Best Practices for Newcomers and Schools.

https://coe.k-state.edu/about/documentaries/becoming-trauma-responsive.html

https://coe.ksu.edu/about/publications/journey-to-refuge/