There’s more to art education than handing out grades. That’s the philosophy of Wethersfield District 230’s new full-time art teacher, Liz Kegebein.
Mrs. Kegebein is a Kewanee native, “born and raised,” as she puts it. She is a graduate of Kewanee High School with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Education from Western Illinois University. She began her teaching career at Sherrard where she taught one year, then shifted to Geneseo where she has been part of the art department for the past eight years.
When she heard Wethersfield was reinstating the art program and looking for a full-time teacher she decided to apply to begin her 10th year of teaching in her hometown.
“There were a lot of tears and sleepless nights,” she said. “I was part of a great team at Geneseo but the thought of developing a program and teaching where I lived, in Kewanee, was hard to pass up.”
She and her husband, Brad, have two sons, Dave, 7, and Joe, 3. Dave will be in second grade at Wethersfield this fall and Joe will begin his first year of pre-kindergarten. Dave attended first grade in Geneseo, but Mrs. Kegebein said it was important that the boys grow and become a part of the community where they lived and went to school.
It has been many years since the full-time art position at Wethersfield was cut from the staff, probably for economic reasons. Art classes were currently taught in the high school by two teachers who primarily taught other subjects, and at Black Hawk East. Art in kindergarten through sixth grade has been taught by a part-time person funded by PATT.
So what changed?
Wethersfield Superintendent Dr. Andrew Brooks said it was a combination of a staff needs survey and a vacancy that could not be filled.
“Because of the retirement of Mrs. (Kathy) Johnson (Family and Consumer Science teacher), and a survey of staff members conducted in the spring of 2022, it was determined that art would be our focus for adding a new program (to replace Family and Consumer Science). Across the state, the teacher shortage has impacted everyone, with some schools trying for two years or more to find a Family and Consumer Science teacher. After posting the position for some time without success, we decided to move to our other option of hiring a full-time art teacher to still provide the creative outlet that our students need.” Dr. Brooks said.
“We have many gifted students in the district, and these new art classes will be an additional opportunity for them to express their talents and share them with the Wethersfield community. We are very excited to have Liz join our team and can’t wait to see the wonders of art on display.”
Mrs. Kegebein didn’t waste any time, arriving at Wethersfield the day after school was out in Geneseo. She has inherited what had been the art room, where she plans to hold art classes for 7th through 12th grades, and a second connected room where she will have classes for 4th through 6th graders. The PATT-funded part-timer, Nichelle Morey, will provide art classes for first through third graders, plus, for the first time, pre-kindergarten.
She said grades are important in a school environment, but the most important thing, she feels, is providing an environment where students can be themselves and create what they feel, not what they think is expected. That philosophy comes from her art teacher at Kewanee High School, Sue Blake.
“I attended grade school at Visitation and when I went to Kewanee High School as a freshmen, I felt out of place. I had art with Mrs. Blake my first period every day and art class gave me the confidence to be myself, express myself, and get through the rest of the day.” Mrs. Kegebein said.
She hopes her students find that freedom in her classroom and that it will eventually lead to things like an art league, art shows and other ways to share their talents with their fellow students and the community. That involvement started almost from day one with her son and Dave’s dream of running his own shaved ice stand.
“I’m not sure where it came from, maybe YouTube, but he’s been obsessed with the idea (of a shaved ice stand) for some time,” she said.
So, with her artwork, and the help of his grandmother, Ladosha Bystry, who also happens to be the cafeteria supervisor at Wethersfield, “D’s Freeze” was born.
They took the stand to Francis Park for the Fourth of July and, when she heard they were looking for non-profit vendors for the Prairie Chicken Arts Festival last weekend, they booked a space in Berrien Park where they made $500 for the art program. Mrs. Kegebein was impressed with the way the community promotes art through the festival and hopes that by next year, we’ll be seeing more involvement in the festival by Wethersfield students and their new teacher.
