Martha Daman, the last remaining founding member of the Renaissance School of Art and Reasoning staff and lead teacher, teaches 6th through 8th grade Performing Arts, Guild (aka. advisory), and 9th grade English and Child Development I at Eastlake High school. Her preferred pronouns are she, her, and hers.
Martha has been teaching in the Lake Washington School District since Fall 1999. She began dancing and performing at age three in Cupertino, California, where she spent her first seventeen years. After moving to Redmond, and graduating from Redmond High School, Martha pursued her college career in Ellensburg, Washington at Central Washington University. Following her marriage to John Daman in August of 1998, she completed her student teacher training at Rose Hill Junior High under the supervision of Gary Iverson. Martha got a job in the Lake Washington School District right after graduation in June of 1999 at Kirkland Junior High (now Kirkland Middle School).
In August of 2000, Mrs. Daman started teaching at BEST Night School program (now Emerson Night School), where she developed independent learning plans for students wanting to graduate from high school. Following the year at Night School, Ms. Daman was offered a position in the BEST High Day School (Emerson School) program, where she taught all levels of high school English and a few History classes, as well Performing Arts. While at BEST High School she co-directed the plays Willy Wonka and Bugsy Malone with the high school students.
In 2004, Ms. Daman joined Diane Kane, Christopher Fraley, and Kathy Colombo to plan the Renaissance School of Art and Reasoning. On June 3, 2006, Ms. Daman gave birth to her first daughter, Molly, and in August of 2006 helped open the Renaissance School of Art and Reasoning on the EHS campus. On February 11, 2011, Ms. Daman delivered her second daughter, Addison.
Ms. Daman believes very strongly about the importance of building strong working relationships, opportunities for choice, and partnering with families to establish an environment of success for her students. She welcomes visitors to her classroom to see what students are actively engaged in. Rigorous the performing arts are all passions of Ms. Daman, and she expects students to give each subject equal attention and care. She does not expect perfection from them; however, she does expect everyone to give their best and grow through the experiences she provides them.
Email:mdaman@lwsd.org
