EduCurious Interview with Kyra Love: Digital Design for Life

Kyra Love, a dedicated Career and Technical Education (CTE) expert, brings a wealth of real-world experience and passion to her role teaching Digital Design and Journalism at a local charter high school. With a background in journalism from the University of Florida and experience in marketing and editing, Love transitioned into education, finding her niche in preparing students with tangible, future-ready skills.Her innovative Digital Design Academy empowers students by teaching them industry-standard software like Adobe Photoshop, InDesign, and Illustrator, with the goal of achieving valuable industry certifications. Love creatively bridges her expertise by integrating her journalism class with the design program to produce an engaging, magazine-style yearbook. This project not only teaches journalistic principles like writing and interviewing but also incorporates modern elements like QR codes linking to video content, offering students a comprehensive media creation experience.Love champions a practical, student-centered teaching philosophy. She meticulously develops her own curriculum, ensuring relevance and alignment with skills needed beyond the classroom. While acknowledging the power of new technologies like AI – encouraging students to use tools like transcript generators smartly – she insists on mastering foundational techniques, such as precise photo editing with the pen tool, ensuring students understand the 'why' behind the 'how'. Her classroom thrives on a self-paced structure, utilizing the Schoology platform effectively for organization, resource sharing, and even recorded lessons, fostering independence and accountability similar to college environments.Despite the inherent challenges of teaching, such as developing curriculum from scratch and navigating state certification differences (having taught in both Arizona and Florida), Love's commitment is evident. She invests personal time, including summers, refining her approach and finds immense reward in seeing students grasp complex concepts and develop life skills. She values collaboration with colleagues and industry connections to keep her programs aligned and relevant.Love holds a positive view of her high school students, appreciating their ability to balance seriousness with humor, their growing understanding of work-life dynamics, and their accepting nature. She sees her role as equipping them not just with technical abilities but also with essential skills like effective note-taking, organization, and the understanding that learning is a lifelong process. Her unique journey from industry professional to educator allows her to provide insightful guidance, emphasizing the value of a strong subject-matter background for anyone considering a teaching career. Love stands out as an enthusiastic and resourceful educator genuinely invested in her students' success.
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