The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
By: Grace Lessen, The Quill
Judy Stevenson
Meet Judy Stevenson who grew up in La Harpe and now lives near Nauvoo. Her parents were the late Kathleen and Harry Bradley and Judy's siblings are Mary, Patti, and Mike. Judy attended LaHarpe high school. After, Judy attended Monmouth College. Judy is married to Jeff Stevenson they have three children together. Trent is the oldest and married to Leisha. Taylor is the middle child and is married to Rahul. Cicely is the youngest and is still in college. Judy Stevenson teaches art at Illini West. She has taught at Illini West since 2007 when the schools converged. Before that, Judy taught at La Harpe.
This is Judy's last year before she retires. When Judy Stevenson was asked what her favorite part about teaching was this was her response, "My favorite part about teaching is getting to spend time with young people and getting to do art all day. Spending all day in an art room is a great place to spend your day. Most kids are happy to go to art class or they wouldn't have chosen to be there". How has covid affected your teaching? "This year has required a lot more planning and yet required me to know that hardly anything goes as planned. There needed to be a plan A, a plan B, and a plan C.
It is hard to get supplies to students when they are not in the classroom. For example, when everyone is present, I can get by with 24 sets of watercolors because I can't have more than 24 in class at one time. When we are remote, every single student needs their own set. That is true for every single material we use in the classroom from brushes to rulers to oil pastels, but I feel like we did okay. A couple of classes even managed to complete their papier mache assignments while remote. Thankfully, most of my students are back in the classroom now". In Judy's free time, she enjoys spending time with her family. Judy likes to travel and she always have some kind of arty project going on. Judy's advice to students is, "My advice to students would be to do things that make you happy, to be kind, never stop trying new things, and to laugh".