Discoveries in Education Spotlight: Raegan Simon

Creativity as Healing

For Raegan Simon, art began as a lifeline. Now, it’s a platform for expression, entrepreneurship, and future teaching.

A current Art Education major at Rowan University (Class of '29), Raegan is the founder and sole owner of Moonlit Market, a small business where she hand-makes and sells jewelry online, at local shows, and in-store at the Surf Mall in Ocean City. She was also recently a featured vendor at Rowan Roots Market, bringing her work directly to the campus community.

From Coping to Community

Moonlit Market began in 2020 during a difficult period in Raegan’s life. Struggling with her mental health, she started making jewelry for friends and family as a creative outlet. What began as a coping mechanism quickly became something more.

Through jewelry-making, Raegan discovered confidence. She learned to take risks, push past fear of judgment, and share her work publicly—even when she wasn’t sure it was “good enough.” That leap of faith not only grew her business, but also connected her to a supportive creative community.

Today, her customers don’t just purchase jewelry—they find pieces that help them express who they are.

Shaping a Future Classroom

Running Moonlit Market has directly shaped the kind of teacher Raegan hopes to become. She wants her future classroom to be a space of free expression, entrepreneurship, and resilience.

As a small business owner, she has experienced both thriving seasons and slow ones. Those fluctuations taught her perseverance and the importance of working through difficult moments. She plans to bring that lesson into her classroom—encouraging students to embrace creative risks and keep going when projects don’t turn out as planned.

Raegan also sees a strong connection between creativity and wellness. She believes art offers students a safe and powerful way to process emotions, manage stress, and express themselves authentically.

Art as Empowerment

For Raegan, education and entrepreneurship are deeply connected. By modeling risk-taking and resilience through her own work, she hopes to inspire students to see themselves not just as artists—but as creators with something meaningful to share.

Through Moonlit Market, Raegan Simon is already demonstrating how creativity can build confidence, strengthen mental wellness, and cultivate community—lessons she will carry into her future art classroom.