About Mrs. Burch


Since we are going to be spending some time together in class, I thought it might be nice for you to know a little bit about me, first.

This is my third year teaching art at Stonewall Jackson Middle school. Before that, I taught art and computer science at Riverside High School in Belle, WV for two years. That was exciting for me, because I got to work with all my favorite teachers from my old high school, DuPont High, including my high school art teacher (and friend) Mary Helen Moynahan.

After High School, I graduated from Marshall University, where I studied oil painting, watercolors, sculpture, and ceramics. I was nominated for Student Teacher of the Year in 1999. I was also nominated for Kanawha County Teacher of the Year in 2002, and I won first place in painting at the Black Walnut Festival that same year. (It was a good year!) The 2003-2004 school year has been very exciting for me. I enjoy working at Stonewall Middle School and will miss my 8th graders -- my first group of students at SJMS to go through my class all 3 years and then move on up to High School. Good luck, class of 2008!

I am happily married to my husband, Mike, who is also a teacher.  He just got hired to teach Science at Spencer Middle School, but before that, he taught Science for years in Putnam County. Together we live in Spencer, WV (about an hour north of Charleston) and we have 3 children: Isaac (7,) Joseph (5,) and Olivia (2.) I enjoy spending time with my family, painting, whitewater rafting, travel, attending cultural events (concerts, museums, theater) and ... oh, yeah -- SLEEP! (Sleep is pretty hard to come by with 3 kids!)


My children (L-R): Isaac, Olivia, Joseph, and my husband Mike and me.

My favorite project at Stonewall Jackson Middle School was the Chinese New Year Parade on January 22, 2004. I had always wanted to do a dragon dance with my students for Chinese New Year, but this was the first time I ever got to do it. Supplies were donated by students and their parents, and the marching band backed us up with a very energetic cadence to march to. It was a lot of work, but my students did not let me down, and we really had a blast. Here is the newspaper coverage of our parade:


Click picture above to read coverage


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Here is a poem I really like:

Our Deepest Fear
by Marianne Williamson


Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness, that frightens us.

We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant,
gorgeous, talented and fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.

There's nothing enlightened about shrinking
so that other people won't feel insecure around you.
We are born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us;
it is not just in some of us - it's in everyone!

And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously
give other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear,
our presence automatically liberates others!

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