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Janis develops the art of teaching
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Lynn Kirk’s new art teacher Melissa Janis holds up her Halloween mask project, which started as her last name before folded in half and decorated brightly.
By SARAH FOOR
Even though Lynn Kirk’s new art teacher Melissa Janis used to be a successful graphic designer, it’s hard to convince her that she was meant to be anything else but a teacher.
“My art teacher in high school always said to me, ‘I know you’ll be an art teacher one day,’” Janis explained. “I didn’t listen at first, but it was only after years of graphic design work where I so looked forward to teaching my colleagues what I knew, that the truth that teaching is the job for me really took hold.”
Following that passion, Boardman-bred Janis returned to YSU to earn her art teaching degree, and she is settling nicely into her first year as an elementary school art teacher.
Her goal in her first year is simple — teaching art skills that her students will translate to other classes, and their lives in general.
In the long term, however, Janis dreams of greater focus on the relationship between art and technology in Austintown schools.
“I don’t think any child is too young or old to learn skills in Free Hand or Photoshop. I’d love to use my experience in graphic design to teach Austintown kids the skills they’ll need in an increasingly designed, online world,” Janis said. “I want kids to have the whole art experience.”