By Linda Conner Lambeck
WESTPORT–Technology has changed quite a bit over the past 20 years but the way Carla Eichler teaches really hasn’t.
“My method of teaching has stayed the same,” said Eichler, a Staples High graphic design teacher and recipient of the 2025 Connecticut Art Education Association’s Outstanding Art Educator Award.
Eichler teaches something called design thinking. Every project starts with a challenge or a problem.
Problem solving
In solving the problem, students learn and practice the concepts and skills necessary to master the skill, reflecting and revising along the way. It’s the way Eichler said she was taught in college. It is the same process she uses when designing something on her own.
“Today’s (lesson) was on emphasis and composition,” said Eichler of her Graphic Design course, an introductory for students interested in digital art.
It was a class she would teach twice that morning, sandwiched in between an Advanced Graphic Design class and Digital Design, an honors class.
Teaching four back-to-back condensed classes before 11:15 a.m. on a Friday was an accommodation made to make room for a Homecoming Pep Rally at the school day’s end.
Peppered in with her instruction are words of encouragement and reminders about the day’s unusual schedule and the need to put their cell phones away.
Critiques
During one class, as students paired off to practice identifying things like balance, contrast and emphasis in posters created by students in another class, Eichler reminds them there are, for the most part, no wrong answers.
“And because I am not a monster there is a cheat sheet on the back (of design terminology)” she tells them light-heartedly as she hands out a worksheet that they will use to critique the posters.
“Someone I haven’t heard from yet,” she says in another class as they take turns identifying things that are visually wrong with a Recycling Poster displayed on the screen up front.
“Too many words …Too many fonts …Awkward spacing and angles,” come the answers.
“You guys are geniuses,” the teacher tells them.
Eichler reminds students that graphic design is about visually communicating a message. How that message is presented can determine how easy it is to understand.
As each class of 15 or 16 students gathers their things to leave, she wishes them a fun, safe weekend.
About the award
Eichler has been a member of the Connecticut Art Education Association for some time but went to a retreat last spring where she volunteered to help develop a new logo for the organization. The art teacher from Stamford that she partnered with, Alexa Orndahl, ended up nominating her for the organization’s Outstanding Art Educator award.
A lengthy application process and letters of recommendation followed.
Dan Rosenthal-Baxter, president-elect of the CAEA, said the organization annually recognizes a select group of individuals in six categories, with Outstanding Art Educator being the top award.
“This event is one of the most rewarding programs carried out by the CAEA,” the president elect said.
Rosenthal-Baxter said the organization, in addition to recognizing excellence among the state’s art teachers, institutions and programs, works to increase awareness of the importance of quality art education.
Dinner Oct. 24
There will be a dinner to recognize all of this year’s honorees on Oct. 24 in New Britain. In March 2026, Eichler will represent Connecticut at the National Art Educator Association conference in Chicago. The district is paying her way to the event, Eichler said.
Schools Superintendent Thomas Scarice told the school board last week that Eichler is beloved among her students and peers.
“We are thrilled to celebrate Ms. Eichler’s extraordinary commitment to her students and to the field of art education,” Scarice added in a written statement. “Her work not only strengthens our arts program but also reflects the community’s deep commitment to providing students with opportunities to grow as creative, thoughtful, and collaborative learners.”
Staples Principal Stafford Thomas called Eichler’s honor well-deserved.
“The arts are an essential component of our students’ development, and Ms. Eichler exemplifies the commitment and excellence that allow our programs to flourish.” Thomas said.
About Eichler
Eichler has always liked art, but her parents were worried when she started as a painting major at the University of Connecticut in the late 1990’s. They pushed her to take at least one graphics course. She loved it.
After college, she got a job as a broadcast graphic designer for News 8 in New Haven. She learned quickly it was not something she wanted to do for the rest of her life.
Teaching was something that people had always suggested she would be good at doing. She worked for a teaching certification and after five years, gave up TV for the classroom.
She deemed it a much better fit. Initially her intent was to reevaluate her career choice in 10 years. A decade passed and she had no interest in changing careers, or schools.
Her entire teaching career has been at Staples.
“I like the kids that are drawn to the classes I teach,” said Eichler.
Sometimes students sign up for digital art because they are intimidated by drawing and painting.
“They don’t see themselves as artists,” Eichler said. “Or see themselves more interest in digital and technology. I have to try to make them see they can be creative and be an artist.”
Eichler said she is most creative when she is with kids because through teaching, she is part of their creative process too.
A good art teacher, Eichler adds, not only has to really like kids but has to see them as a whole person who brings their own history and personality and sense of humor to their art.
She gets to know some students well, particularly those who reach her honors level courses, which include Digital Design and Digital Design Motion.
Gigi Glickman, a junior in Eichler’s Digital Design class, called Eichler engaging and fun to work with.
One bank of Apple desktop computer screens over, Caden Chisena, another junior, said Eichler was one of the first teachers he had when he transferred to Staples in his sophomore year.
“She is really nice,” said Chisena. “She has a good vibe.”
Beyond teaching, Eichler is also advisor to a Staples Graphics Design club which creates posters and advertising for events and the school’s National Art Honor Society, whose members perform 10 hours of arts-related community service annually.
About digital art
Great at what she does, Eichler admits she might be lost trying to teach a ceramics class. Digital art isn’t going anywhere but Eichler’s advice for new art teachers is to be as well-rounded as possible.
“You kind of have to be a jack of all trades, even at the high school level,” she said.
Eichler finds she needs to spend less time these days defending digital art.
In the beginning the general perception was that digital art wasn’t art because students were using computers and not their own hands to create.
“It takes just as much skill to learn how to use a computer (and software) as a tool … even maybe more so,” said Eichler. “It’s a different kind of skill.”
Creating art digitally has its advantages. It’s faster. What could take weeks or months to create through trial and error on a canvas can be accomplished in a single class period on a computer screen.
“There is more versatility,” Eichler said. Changes in colors, fonts and design placement can be made instantaneously.
When making proofs for a poster assignment, that leaves more time to nail down the use of repetition, alignment and proximity. Also, whether the piece includes symmetrical or a-symmetrical elements. Nothing should be unintentional, she said.
“If you are stuck,” Eichler tells a class creating a mood board for a brochure, “I would suggest looking at this website for good examples. If you are really, really stuck come talk to me.”
Recent Westport Journal coverage of Westport schools
- Cell phones banned at Staples
- School board requests supplemental funds for capital projects
- Fifth grade scoring drop worries board
- Strong start for school year, but Scarice warns of “storm clouds”
Linda Conner Lambeck
Linda Conner Lambeck covers education for Westport Journal. She was a reporter for more than four decades at the Connecticut Post and other Hearst publications. She has covered education throughout Fairfield and New Haven counties. She is a proud member of the Education Writers Association.
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