“I’m very happy to bring the arts back,” Gladstone Middle School Principal Dave Ballard said. “I think we got very lucky … sometimes it’s luck of the draw. You work very hard to find the best candidate that will fit into your system and your group of teachers, and I think Mrs. Gilner does very well.”

The art program ended when the previous teacher retired, as the school had difficulties drawing in someone qualified. Ballard said they replaced art with a class on life skills, such as sewing and cooking.

To be able to teach art at the middle school level requires a degree in that specialty, Ballard explained. “Art and industrial arts are areas that we struggle to find people in,” he said.

The new art program already has been a hit with students, Gilner said. “The kids have been soaking it up. They’re loving it,” she said.

New Gladstone Middle School art teacher Amy Gilner poses in front of the Braves Feathers Mural that was assembled with feathers created by her sixth, seventh and eighth grade students. Gladstone students now are encouraged to have their photo taken with the wings behind them. (Sophie Vogelmann | Daily Press)

One early project was having the sixth, seventh and eighth grade art students make feathers with inspirational and uplifting words. The feathers then were arranged as wings on a black backdrop that was hung up in the cafeteria as a photo backdrop, with a wish for Gladstone students “to spread their wings and fly high this year.”

Miah Miron, from Gilner’s first-hour art class, said, “I really like it. It’s a lot of fun. We do a lot of free drawing, which I really like. We’ve done a lot of fun projects, too.”

Gilner has an extensive background in art. She earned a bachelor’s degree in art design with a major in ceramics and now is studying for her master’s in art education, which she should complete in December.

She was a full-time substitute at Escanaba Junior and Senior High last year. Gilner also assisted Scott Dykema, the Escanaba Junior High art teacher, when not substitute teaching. “He taught me a lot about classroom management and helped me get comfortable teaching art to middle schoolers, which is now my favorite grade group to teach,” she said.

The school’s old science lab has been converted to an art room. The lab hadn’t been cleaned out since sometime in the ’70s, Ballard said, so preparing the space for the class was a major project. The school also invested a lot of money in art supplies.

Gladstone Middle School students watch new art teacher Amy Gilner present details of an orange. They were assigned to draw fruit slices to practice realism Tuesday. (Sophie Vogelmann | Daily Press)

He praised Gilner’s skills. “Shes very meticulous and organized. She’s very knowledgeable. Her portfolio was excellent,” Ballard said.

Next could be restoring industrial arts, such as woodworking, small engines and welding. The middle school’s program shut down just before Ballard became principal 15 years ago.

It, too, requires a specialized degree, one that few colleges offer, Ballard said. And there’s an additional issue: “Not a lot of people go to school for industrial arts because they can make more money doing construction,” he said.

The Gladstone Middle School wrestling facility was a woodworking shop in the ’70s and ’80s. Ballard would like it to become a woodworking shop again and move the wrestlers elsewhere, but that would be costly, as would be getting equipment for an industrial arts program.

“And it’s not a cheap program,” he noted.

Gladstone sixth grade student Sarah Wetthuhn looks at her drawing with art teacher Amy Gilner. (Sophie Vogelmann | Daily Press)

But Ballard thinks the interest is there. That investment, in turn, could convince parents and students to come to Gladstone schools, which would lead to more state funding, as that is based on pupil count.

“When we add programs like this, it certainly would attract a lot of students,” Ballard said.

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Sophie Vogelmann can be reached at 906-786-2021 or svogelmann@dailypress.net.