Henrico's Top Teachers – Allison Boyd

Many people have changed their ideas for dream jobs since elementary school, but this is not the case for Allison Boyd. Her career goals haven’t changed since she donned a beret and a giant paint palette for her kindergarten career day.

She's had a passion for art and helping others her whole life. Throughout her time in high school, she loved to help others see their potential in art. Now as an art teacher at Hermitage High School, she gets to fulfill that dream every day.

“I could have gone into math or science; I was good at them, but art was always my passion,” she said.

Boyd loves seeing her students find their self worth and discover things they had no idea they could do. She encourages them to see beyond whether something looks good and think more about what they learned or, as she puts it, “What are you trying to say?”

Although Boyd does find it a little difficult to keep up with new technology, that doesn’t limit her ideas of what students can accomplish. Recently, she tasked her students with creating artwork out of VHS tapes.

“Teaching at least one or two kids something that they had never learned before – that’s what made all that effort worth it,” she said.

Boyd loves seeing the spark of creativity shine through in her students, and her passion for her job and caring for others does not go unnoticed.

“She is always the first teacher I turn to for advice and encouragement, because she cares so deeply about my success inside and outside the classroom,” one student wrote in a nomination.

“She makes learning fun with interactive activities and very detailed presentations,” wrote another.

Boyd finds many parts of her job rewarding, but she also attributes the love of her job to the diversity within Hermitage High. She enjoys seeing her students learn about one another and feel comfortable enough in the art room to share their backgrounds.

“In all of my classes you will see so many ranges of kids and abilities,” Boyd said, “The art room is really one of the few places that kids can all converse and share. Different perspectives are so important in the world, too.”

In addition to encouraging them to learn from one another, Boyd pushes her students to take risks and to embrace trial and error.

“That's what I really want them to do – not be scared to make mistakes because sometimes those mistakes can be beautiful," she said.