Why Choose the Art Teaching Profession?

When I asked my cooperating teacher why she had chose to become an art teacher she voiced that it was not her first choice.  She had originally gotten a degree in genealogy and was interested in making a lot of money.  Of course she had waitressing jobs and was one of the first women to work on an oil field.  She was making a lot of money but wasn’t very happy with what she was doing.  Her mom had always said that she would be good at teaching, but the paycheck turned her away from the profession.  She had taken lots of studio classes throughout the years and it seemed obvious that she had a passion for art.  She was miserable working in the oil fields and would be a single parent in the future, so she decided to find a more practical job.  Teaching art was the logical choice at the time so she could work and raise her children.  Now, she claims that it was the best decision in her professional career and she wouldn’t trade teaching art for anything else.  Mrs. C claims, “The art room is like home to me.”