Mrs. Fulton grew up in North Jersey and attended Pequannock Township High School. Following high school graduation, Mrs. Fulton was prepared to spend her next four years in the Big Apple at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) to study textile design, but due to an unexpected family tragedy, Mrs. Fulton decided it would be best to stay closer to home. After completing two years of college, Mrs. Fulton was still undecided about where the future would take her.
Years later, Mrs. Fulton marries her husband and has her first child. Watching her daughter grow up and learn new things inspired Mrs. Fulton to go back to school and major in fine arts and education. Mrs. Fulton chose this major because she has always loved color and drawing since she was a young girl. In fact, two of her favorite children’s books of all time are called “The Color Kittens” by Margaret Wise Brown and “Harold and the Purple Crayon” by Crockett Johnson. These two books impacted her life at such a young age and sparked her interest in art, color and design. Mrs. Fulton feels that this was the perfect decision to return to school because “to be able to do what you love for a living is a gift and I am very grateful!”
Mrs. Fulton has been teaching at St. Rose for eighteen years and “cannot believe it has been that long!” When she first began teaching at St. Rose, she was drawn to the kind students who were very receptive of the art program. One of her students, senior Emily McEwan, who is in Mrs. Fulton’s Foundations of Art class says, “Mrs. Fulton is an awesome teacher with a very positive attitude and energy. Whenever I am not feeling confident in my artwork, Mrs. Fulton is always there to help with creative advice or to encourage me to just keep trying! I have learned so much from her so far, and I continue to learn new things each and every day in class!”
Mrs. Fulton teaches many Foundations of Art classes and Computer Graphics classes throughout the course of her day. Her favorite technique to teach however, is watercolor. Mrs. Fulton also added that the soft sculpture, while very challenging and time consuming, was extremely satisfying in the end. Mrs. Fulton is extremely impressed and proud of how the soft sculpture creations turned out! Each sculpture was unique and different with a sweet background story!
Aside from teaching at St. Rose, Mrs. Fulton loves going on road trips, whether near or far. Last November, Mrs. Fulton and her husband drove New York to see the Thanksgiving Day balloons blown up for the first time! Mrs. Fulton recalls the city being “absolutely crazy”, but she loved it!
Mrs. Fulton dedication and commitment to her students is inspiration to her students and others for eighteen years and counting!
By Samantha Mastrocola ‘16
