Welcome to Photography and Visual Arts at Hillside High School in Durham, North Carolina. I am Paula Siwek, MFA Fine Arts, Pratt Institute, a teacher with Durham Public Schools for over a decade. Art & Photography at Hillside are demanding courses which provide a strong foundation for further development in the arts and creative problem solving. The course is anchored in the state core curriculum,linked below, with areas of emphasis in 21st century skills, and visual literacy. These classes will require students' full attention. Students in Visual Arts and Photography at Hillside are introduced to the elements and principles of art and photography through the work of others as well as their own. Through digital and analogue media, students are taught techniques, visual language and history to better understand how to create their own works. This site is our primary resource for our School's Visual Arts and Photography classes. Please feel free to search around the site. I will also use Google Classroom to monitor classwork assignments, reflections and Blog posts for your child. I ask all parents to ensure that I have correct email information so that I may include you in your son/daughter's progress in class. If you have any questions or fail to see information that you would like to see, please let me know!