Spotlighting Giovani Zanolino on World Teacher Day

Giovani Zanolino

Giovani in class

In the month of June (2013) a Curaçao based mixed media artist, Giovani Zanolino, volunteered his time and talent during a visual arts project at the Van Houte School in Breivengat, Curaçao. He taught and guided the students in creating their own mixed media collages using photographs, magazines and acrylic paint. The results were not short of AMAZING!

We asked Giovani: Looking back at your volunteer teaching experience during the project, sharing your time and talent with the kids, how was it? And secondly, how would you describe a great teacher (in any field)?

Student Collage

Student collage

"I had a great time participating in this project. I was very impressed by the talent of the children we worked with. They had a clear intuition for color and form and I would do another project like this in a heartbeat. It was really fun and satisfying to see them surprise themselves. I enjoyed seeing the kids realise they have talents they didn't know of yet. I am  very happy too see Curaçao Cares stimulating our youth to express themselves in a positive way, and especially to see them giving these children more opportunities to believe in themselves. With time and nurturing we can help cultivate creativity, confidence and unity in our community. 

Student Collage

Student Collage

I think a good teacher must have the ability to communicate well, but especially to lead by example. All my best teachers were simply good genuine people. Through honesty and purity they connect to you on a higher, often subconscious level. So if you Love what you do, you will probably be a teacher to many. But for our schoolteachers I would suggest a good dose of patience and compassion as a big plus."