Art teacher comes back to her roots

Melody Garrett, a new art teacher,  came in ready this fall for her first year of teaching at Silverado High School. Garrett says the start of the year has been “exciting” and that the students have been “great and are putting out great art.”

Garrett said that getting students excited in her classes can be challenging, but she does not give her students work or projects that she would not enjoy herself.

“If they see you’re into it, they will be more open to giving it a try,” Garrett says.

Garrett actually attended Silverado High School, graduating in 2015, and went out of state for college at BYU-Idaho. In the end, she came back and student taught under Michael McGreal, another Silverado art teacher.

Her teachers and “feeling like I wanted to share”  were the reasons she decided to be a teacher.

Garrett said she would never choose another profession as it never really came to mind. She said that she had thought about teaching music, but it was too constraining for her, and she wanted to teach a subject that was more open with more options.

Garrett also said that there were some highs and lows of teaching. Her good days are days when things go smoothly, kids understand things, and they are excited about what they are learning. Her bad days are the exact opposite when there is low energy and low interest. She said there really is nothing she doesn’t enjoy about teaching.

“You can’t not like the teaching part,” Garrett says.

Garrett also said she came back to Silverado not just because she went here, but because she enjoys the community and what it offers. Her goal for class is to hopefully hold an art show at the end of the year, but it will be hard work. Garrett also helps advise an art club with McGreal every Thursday in room 308 or 318 and hopes to inspire more students to make art.