April 26, 2023 by Natalie Rock (‘23)
Teacher:
Mrs. Raga-Barone
What do you teach?
Mrs. R-B teaches visual art, which includes Foundations in Art, Portfolio I, Digital Video, Computer Graphics II, and C.A.R.E.S Art.
Where did you attend college? Likes? Dislikes?
Mrs. R-B attended college at the Rochester Institute of Technology. She loved the classes she took there. She felt her professors were talented and really challenged their students. Although RIT is such a big school with around 14,000 undergraduate students, she found a small, family-like community within the Arts College. The only downside was the college’s distance from downtown Rochester. “You had to drive everywhere!” Ms. R-B said.
Is this what you planned to be doing when you started out in college? If not, what career did you originally plan on?
“Actually no!” She said. “It was always in the back of my mind. I had the scary experience of getting into my first gallery and design internships and it just did not feel like a good fit.” Mrs. R-B said it was a truly terrifying thing to realize in her junior year. Thankfully, however, she found solace in a fellow student’s experience. She said, “one of my studio-mates, Teresa, told me she was looking at Art Education and that I should check it out too. Thank goodness she did!” Thank goodness is right. All of us at SSHS have Teresa to thank for bringing us Mrs. R-B.
What are your hobbies outside of school?
“I love gardening! I also love working on my old Victorian house with my husband,” said Mrs. R-B, who went on to stress her love of reading by saying, “I’ve been in the same book club meeting monthly for the past fifteen years and going strong.” Another of her hobbies, no surprise to anyone, is painting. In the winter, she enjoys skiing, skating, and tubing. The fall, spring, and summer are full of long walks. She enjoys time with friends and family and finds joy in the little things–things like taking her daughter on bike rides, dance classes, the trampoline park, and the Children’s Museum. “Those last few probably aren’t hobbies but they are something I do a lot of these days,” said Mrs. R-B.
What does an ideal weekend look like to you?
“All weekends are ideal.” Her favorite weekend activities include anything involving her friends and family. Just getting to catch up with everyone and enjoy a meal is the best way to spend a weekend in Mrs. R-B’s opinion.
If a genie granted you 3 wishes right now, what would you wish for?
Simply put, Mrs. R-B wants “health, happiness, and a long life!”
How would people close to you describe you?
“Warm, affectionate, quirky, old soul, and crafty.”
What is something on your bucket list?
Mrs. Raga-Barone and a few of her friends have all agreed that they are going to visit the Crayola Crayon Factory and then go to Fallingwater, once their kids are bigger. “We’ve titled it our Low-Brow, High-Brow Art Getaway,” said Mrs. R-B.
What is your biggest accomplishment?
“Oh gosh. If I say my kid, is that cheesy? I’m not sure she is an accomplishment, but Gia certainly is the light of my life.”
What is one thing that your students don’t know about you?
Before deciding to go to graduate school to become an art teacher, Mrs. R-B interviewed for a graphic design position at Secret Service in Washington D.C. She said that “it was genuinely the strangest experience of my life to date. I declined the 2nd polygraph interview since I’d already been accepted to grad school for art education. I think I made the right choice.”