Ambassador
“One of the units I teach in my Advanced Drawing classes is based around activism, and I'm always looking for ways to get students to dig deeper and think more richly about topics that are important to them. In this way, they consider not only awareness but how to create change through artwork.”
Avery Ayers-Berry started her teaching career in college, teaching disadvantaged gifted children in visual arts. After graduating from Washburn University with a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1994, she accepted a position at Wabaunsee High School, where she was able to teach art and provide several opportunities for her students to display work and attend competitions with great success around the state. In 2001, Ayers-Berry moved to USD 450 where she began as a part-time art teacher. It didn’t take long before she helped to grow the art program and was teaching full-time art classes. In 2004, she helped to grow the program to the point the district needed to employ an additional high school art teacher. In 2004, she received a Master of Arts in Education from Baker University. In May 2016, Ayers-Berry was asked to grow the art program once more, this time at the elementary level. This elementary art pilot program was successful and, as of Spring of 2023, the district employs four elementary art teachers. She also displays her personal work at various galleries and museums. She is a 2023 Shawnee Heights Secondary Teacher of the Year Nominee and was a 2020 Distinguished Modern Classroom Teacher.
