The West Bend Current

By Khyana Jimmerson, Current Staff

After years of thinking about changes with a broad brush, the West Bend High Schools art department is carefully sculpting a new set of classes.

On Oct. 23, the art teachers went before the school board for a second time to clarify their plan to more clearly separate beginner, intermediate and advanced tracks. Cost estimates and student feedback were part of the presentation. Part of their goal is to introduce students to more art options than are currently offered, especially for beginning pupils.

Mickiah Wolff, an East High art teacher, currently teaches ceramics and has taught Intro to Art in the past. Wolff saw a big gap in the young artists’ skill level and started putting a plan into place. The plan would accommodate students of all levels. She has been eagerly brainstorming this change for years.

“New classes would give the students that need more enjoyment and practice, the opportunity to do that,” Wolff said.

These classes would consist of eight new art classes starting in the 2024-2025 school year. The proposal includes four new survey classes. This way they can be taken for four semesters in a row. The goal of these is to introduce students to different art mediums and styles and to gauge their interest in art. 

The current art class that would be changed to make room for the new survey class is Intro to Art. This class focuses primarily on drawing and painting. It will not be taken away, just moved up a level. Wolff says the intro classes are not truly an intro due to the fact that it only focuses on certain mediums and skills.

The other new classes will build on Ceramics, a class that already exists. The new classes consist of handbuilding which comes with an advanced option, and wheel throwing which also come with an advanced option. These classes will help separate different levels of artists along with the different ways to build. This would limit the amount of kids that fall behind. Students will also get the opportunity to take ceramics all the way throughout high school.

Vincent Zirbes, an East sophomore and eager art student, is looking forward to witnessing these changes. He enjoys the ceramics class but without these additions he wouldn’t be able to study it throughout high school without repeating a class. 

“I’m very excited for this change because with more classes comes many more projects and new techniques that I can add to my portfolio,” Zirbes said.

Wolff hopes the art department will have the changes approved after the school board meets Nov. 13.

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(Top image: Pictured are students in Mickiah Wolff’s second period Ceramics & Sculpture class. Photo courtesy of Wolff.)