FORMER EAST PRAIRIE ART TEACHER POFF HONORED

EAST PRAIRIE -- Ellen Turner admits that her daughter isn't a conventional art teacher.

Poff "teaches art differently than other teachers," Turner said. And those differences earned her top recognition from the Blue Springs School District. She was recently honored as Teacher of the Year.

Teaching was a family tradition for Poff. She is the daughter of two teachers. Her mother and father, Jack, both taught in the East Prairie district for 35 years. Poff also taught in the district for three years.

The Turners first taught their daughter that learning could be fun. And that is exactly what Poff is trying to teach her students.

Whether it is by dressing up like King Tut, Van Gogh, or an Indian princess, or wearing a hula skirt made from Cheerios for an "edible art" unit, Poff makes things exciting in her art classed.

"To inspire them creatively is my main goal whether it be in art or life," said Poff.

Affectionately known for years as "Miss Art," Poff has been teaching nearly ever since moving to East Prairie in 1957.

Her parents remember her gathering up the neighborhood children and establishing a one-room schoolhouse. Now she's teaching kindergarten through fifth grade at a Lee's Summit elementary school.

But teaching art isn't limited to a classroom. Poff also teaches art program for the community parks department as well as for scout troops and day cares.

She's been featured on television and in print explaining why her students are underneath tables painting to learn about Michelangelo or taking turns fanning one another as they study about Pharoahs or painting self-portraits using mirrors like Norman Rockwell.

Poff sees her attention-grabbing techniques in another light.

"I believe that I have succeeded if even one child creates, learns, or solves a problem that otherwise would not have been mastered without having been exposed to these creative, non-traditional teaching techniques."