Member Minute: Introducing Alan Sparrow

The NASJE Membership Committee is pleased to introduce one of NASJE’s newest members: Alan Sparrow!

Alan hails from the great state of Arizona, where he is an Education Specialist in the Education Technologies Unit. He was a good sport, and gamely answered some of the committee’s “Get-To-Know-You” questions.

1. What was your path to judicial education?
I pursued a graphic design career shortly after leaving college, discovering I had a real passion and talent for it. This lead to several positions in corporate training, mainly with an eye toward instructional design and distance learning. When one of my former supervisors came to work for the Arizona Supreme Court, she (thankfully) didn’t lose my number and asked if I’d be interested in joining her team developing online and broadcast trainings for the court.

2. How long have you worked at your organization?
I’ve been with the courts for ten years as of this July (2017). This marks the longest I’ve ever stayed with any organization, which speaks well of our court system here in Arizona, as most of the time designers tend to move around quite a bit over their careers. I enjoy the work I do here. I feel it matters. I’m making a difference, hopefully a positive one, to the community around me. Plus, I’m doing work which I was trained to do. Not everyone gets to say that about their job.

3. If you could do another job for just one day, what would it be?
Technically I already do it. When I’m not building courses or shooting video or editing audio, I write and draw comic books. Arizona has a wealth of talented artists and I’ve been fortunate to create some amazing stories with some of them. I have a regular spot at the Phoenix Comicon every year, and I’m a founding member of NAZCA, the Northern Arizona Cartoonist Association. I’m that person whose notes in any meeting tend to have countless doodles in the margins.

4. What do you like to do when you’re not at work?
If I’m not working on a script on my laptop, I’m hunched over my art table in pursuit of the best possible line I can draw at the time. In between, I like to cook, occasionally noodle on whatever stringed instrument happens to be around (I’m a proficient bassist and guitarist, and I’m teaching myself mandolin, ukulele, and hammered dulcimer when I have time), and catch up on any sleep I might be missing.

5. What’s your favorite movie?
Anything with Batman in it.