“Having been a student, parent and teacher here at MFS I have so many wonderful memories,” said Edmund.
After being a beloved part of the MFS community for 47 years, Middle and Upper School art teacher Nicole Edmund is leaving after the 2020-21 school year. Edmund started at MFS as a first grade student in 1974 and graduated from the upper school in 1986; her three daughters, Morgan Sloan ’14, Braeden Sloan ’16, and Mattie Sloan ’17, followed in her path. She started teaching at MFS in 2004.
Edmund’s 17 memorable years of teaching at MFS allowed her to create strong bonds with her students, many of whom have expressed their admiration for her.
Mikelle Smith ’25 mentioned, “I love how she goes with the flow and let’s us just have fun. There is never really a day that Ms. Edmund gave only one option for something to do. She never wanted us to stress, she wanted us to have fun and live in the moment.”
Edmund uses her passion and creativity in her art to inspire others to do the same. She is incredibly valued by her students, including Sumin Kim ’23, who said, “Ms. Edmund has helped me immensely in my journey in art, and influenced me into wanting to pursue art in the future. It’s all thanks to her.”
Abby Dawson ’21 added, “Ms. Edmund has had a huge impact on me with understanding the nature of art and using artistic ability to its fullest potential. She has helped me learn that I am a creative person that likes art even if it isn’t the best in the eyes of others. What truly matters is how you feel when creating, and that is something I had only learned from her.”
Edmund’s students are saddened to see her leave, but are incredibly grateful for everything she has done for them. Sarah Huynh ’25 says, “I’m so lucky to have been her student these past few years, and I’m really going to miss her!”
With leaving MFS, Edmund announced that Ailsa Stevenson will be taking over as an art teacher: “I’m very excited my past student, Ailsa Stevenson, will be moving into the full-time position! She has so many wonderful ideas and plans to continue developing the top-notch visual arts program at MFS.”
Although Edmund will miss teaching at MFS, she has many great plans for the future.
“We are moving to a 49 acre farm in North Carolina. We currently have horses, and my plan is to really start expanding our flock of chickens, getting somewhere around 100. I really want to start selling things like eggs. The other thing that I’ll be working on is building up a business in micro greens and working on selling them to the farmers market and local restaurants.”
“I plan on continuing to teach in independent schools and at craft schools, like Peter’s Valley and Penland. I love teaching young students, but I’d also like to branch out and work with adults. I will be developing my YouTube with art tutorials in order to share all of my years of knowledge and super fun projects,” said Edmund.
