As new art teacher, Meyer makes a splash at Cunniff

Jaclyn Meyer (sitting, center), the new art teacher at Cunniff Elementary in Watertown, Mass., poses some of the staff of the Cunniff Kids News after an interview in the newsroom Oct. 6, 2015.

Cunniff Kids News staff, .

Jaclyn Meyer knows what to do when you don’t like how your painting comes out.

“If you mess up, rip it up, and turn it into a collage,” she says. 

Jaclyn Meyer (standing left), the new art teacher at Cunniff Elementary in Watertown, Mass., talks with the staff of the Cunniff Kids News during an interview in the newsroom Oct. 6, 2015.
Jaclyn Meyer (standing left), the new art teacher at Cunniff Elementary in Watertown, Mass., talks with the staff of the Cunniff Kids News during an interview in the newsroom Oct. 6, 2015.

Meyer is the new art teacher at Cunniff Elementary School. She was born in Boston and grew up in the Boston area and in California. She has one brother and one sister. She says she was not good at sports, but she was good at writing, reading, and art, especially painting.

She says that when she was in high school, her art teacher said to her, “You’re good. You should be an artist, and I said, ‘OK.’ ” 

New Cunniff art teacher Jaclyn Meyer walks behind Cunniff Kids News reporters during an interview in the newsroom Oct. 6, 2015.
New Cunniff art teacher Jaclyn Meyer walks behind Cunniff Kids News reporters during an interview in the newsroom Oct. 6, 2015.

She says she’s inspired by nature and enjoys abstract art. Her favorite artist is Mark Bradford.

“Art make me feel good,” she says. “It expresses my feelings.”

Meyer, who is now 30, decided to be an art teacher when she was 22. She went to Mass. Art and Tufts. She has spent five years teaching, including three years in public schools at Winchester Middle School and Hardy Elementary in Arlington. 

Cunniff Kids News reporters take notes during an interview with new Cunniff Elementary art teacher Jaclyn Meyer on Oct. 6, 2015.
Cunniff Kids News reporters take notes during an interview with new Cunniff Elementary art teacher Jaclyn Meyer on Oct. 6, 2015.

She says she likes teaching elementary school children best of all the grades. 

“You have more imagination than middle school and high school kids,” she says. “[Elementary school students] are easier to talk to.”

In her free times, she says she likes to play with her two new kittens and her sister’s puppy.

She is enjoying her new school.

“There’s no better place to be than Watertown,’’ she says.

Jaclyn Meyer (sitting, center), the new art teacher at Cunniff Elementary in Watertown, Mass., poses some of the staff of the Cunniff Kids News after an interview in the newsroom Oct. 6, 2015.
Jaclyn Meyer (sitting, center), the new art teacher at Cunniff Elementary in Watertown, Mass., poses some of the staff of the Cunniff Kids News after an interview in the newsroom Oct. 6, 2015.

–Oct. 8, 2015–