Help Katie Salazar Rebuild after Fire Destroyed her Art Room

KRISTY ROYCE is organizing this fundraiser.

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My dear sister, Katie Salazar, is an artist and an art teacher. She brings magic into her art classroom every day. She has taught elementary art for 15 years in the mountains of Colorado and most people in Summit and Boulder county have had a family member in one of her art classes. Katie Salazar has taught at Gypsum Elementary, Silverthorne Elementary, Frisco Elementary, Monark K-8, Crestview Elementary, Flatrions Elementary and now Dillon Valley Elementary. Unfortunately, Katie's art classroom at Dillon Valley Elementary Art room recently burned and she lost just about EVERYTHING, including a big part of her heart and soul. She is heartbroken.

We all know teachers are amazing angels who go above and beyond and never for enough pay! It seems that they are driven by a higher power. Here is the story of my sister, who truly is an art angel and always gave and then gave some more to her students. Her art classroom at Dillon Valley Elementary had a tragic electrical fire caused by a pinched powerstrip. Nobody is to blame for this fire. Her art room was 100% destroyed and she lost her life's work as an art teacher.

From Katie:

I lost just about EVERYTHING connected with my entire 15 year art teaching career when a fire destroyed my art room. After losing so much of myself, and my life's work, I am still in shock and am truly heartbroken. As an art specialist, I am not given any curriculum to follow. I have to create every lesson I teach for every grade level, ensuring that all the Colorado State Visual Art standards are met. It has been a labor of love creating my personal art curriculum over my 15 year career: gathering grade level appropriate lessons, art resources, reading and writing assignments, art teaching posters, writing reflections, art rubrics, assessments, creating art samples, and collecting student art samples.

My life's work as a teacher and most of my art curriculum materials were stored in the art room that was destroyed in the fire. Most items I only had a paper copy and I do not have any digital file. In addition, because I have been an art teacher for so long and have taught private art classes and summer art camps for over 15 years through the town of Silverthorne, I have lots of art supplies. I had generously brought in boxes of my own personal art supplies and boxes of my art samples to share with the Dillon Valley students.

I also had my art book library that I have been collecting over my entire career destroyed. Most of these books have been gifts to me from past art students over the years and had tremendous sentimental value.

I have had to cancel several of my summer art camps that I teach through the town of Silverthorne this summer. These classes bring a signifigant part of my annual income each year.

I think it is important to stress the fact that school district does not provide an art curriculum but insteads relies on hiring knowledgeable art teachers to create, develop, and then instruct their own art curriculum. This is an incredible amount of work that largely goes unrecognized. My hope is that people can help and make a donation so I can rebuild. I know my community values art and art education and this is their chance to show it.