TEACHER'S CORNER: ORAN ART INSTRUCTOR FINDS A JOB HE ENJOYS

ORAN -- Art instructor Jeff Pind is happy to have a job he can enjoy. For the past four years he has taught art in Oran public schools for grades kindergarten through 12, but prior to that time he worked as a visual presentation manager for a corporation.

"The corporate world is a very cold, callous and uncaring place where the dollar is not expendable but people are," he said. "With the death of an old career, I knew something wonderful lay ahead for me as a teacher. What a good feeling it is to affect the lives of individuals daily. I finally have a job that makes me feel as though I'm making a difference."

Pind said he enjoys teaching because it allows him to share something he truly loves. He said he uses different hands-on techniques and emphasizes to students the desire to create.

Older students in advanced art classes gain from his corporate experience by learning commercial art skills. Some of their projects include airbrush, assemblage, murals, graphic arts and model building, he said, and students are pushed to set and achieve goals.

"I feel it's vital to build self-confidence in my students and really push them to achieve their goals," he said. "Last year my advanced art class built a backdrop for Americare Corporation in Sikeston. This project paid for our way to the St. Louis Art Museum and the Science Center. It demonstrated to the class how a real commercial art department operates."

When not teaching, Pind said he enjoys spending time with his wife, Marilyn, and two sons, Max and Wes, at their home in Cape Girardeau. His hobbies include collecting fossils and Indian artifacts, playing the guitar, model building, and of course, all kinds of artwork.