Susie Monday

Susan McAtee Monday was born in 1948 in the vibrant city of Waco, Texas. Her childhood was enriched by attending the Baylor Children's Theatre, headed by Jearnine Wagner. Wagner—later a Trinity Professor—would go on to become a lifelong friend and mentor to Susan, shaping her passion for art, music, theater, and the mind-body connection.

It was through her involvement with the theater that Monday's life took a significant turn, and she continued to pursue her passion for the arts and education for the rest of her life. Following in Wagner's footsteps, Monday enrolled at Trinity University, completing her Bachelor's degree in Fine Arts with a minor in Performing Arts in 1970. While at Trinity, she worked as a student teacher with the Ideas in Motion Program and contributed to Wagner's Unlimited Potential Program.

In 1971, Monday became a part of the core group that organized the Learning About Learning Educational Foundation (LAL). She developed innovative programs, exhibits, and publications, and led LAL's Idea Workshop, demonstrating her passion for education and her belief that every child possesses unique talents and abilities.

Monday's philosophy was to give children the tools to understand their own learning styles, nurturing  their individual strengths so that each child could grow as a whole. As she once said, “At Learning about Learning, our philosophy is that all children have gifts and talents. The secret is to give a child tools of knowing how they work and learn as an individual, it’s a way of looking at children — not at their personality but at the way they create things [....] You see their individual strengths and you work from those by feeding them.”

Despite LAL’s closure in 1986, Monday remained dedicated to education and the arts. She worked as a writer for both the San Antonio Light and Our Kids Magazine before becoming the Director of Exhibits and Programs at the San Antonio Children's Museum from 1993 until 1998. Today, Monday is a renowned artist and teacher, continually on a personal journey of growth. As she once said, “all of us [staff at LAL] were on personal journeys and we still are.” She resides in Texas, participating in exhibitions and offering online and in-person workshops.