COLLINSVILLE — For the past 20 years, West Lauderdale High School art teacher Rhea Mabry has encouraged her students to forget formulas and forego footnotes and instead unleash their creativity and tap into self-expression.

Mabry’s efforts to help students discover themselves were rewarded Wednesday as she was named the Golden Apple Teacher for December 2021.

“To me, art is a way for them to have an outlet,” she said. “So many things are stressed for academics, SAT, math, science, English. When they come in here, they can be themselves and create what they want to create, and they have freedom in that. Obviously, as an artist, I feel like that is what it’s about is expressing what you can contribute to the world.”

Students are not immune to academic pressures, and years of focusing on finding the right answer and doing well on tests takes a toll.

Mabry said art is different, and can help students unwind from the stress of their day. But first, she said, they have to be taught how to tap into their potential.

“It’s almost like they’ve been trained how to educate, how to learn,” Mabry said of her students. “And when they get in here, in this environment, I have to break them of that. I have to explain to them how to be creative, how to explore and how to be adventurous because they’re so timid.”

For Mabry, art was not a required course when she attended West Lauderdale High School. Mississippi added an art requirement in 1996, and Mabry said that was her chance to give students an opportunity she didn’t have.

“I didn’t have art in high school, so that kind of pushed me into doing it because even elementary school kids don’t have access to art, and it’s sad,” she said. “It’s important to me to show kids how art can influence their lives. Whether they like it or not, art is good for everybody.”

In her classroom, Mabry said she tries to teach her students to try. There are no right or wrong answers in art, she said, but every student has to show their creativity.

“My board says practice will never hurt you, but not trying will,” she said. “They have to try. As long as they try, then they are succeeding in what they’re trying to do.”

Mabry said one of the most rewarding things for her as a teacher is when a former student tells her she made a difference in their lives.

“I didn’t realize I made an impact on them while they were in this room, but years later they’ll tell me, ‘Oh, you were my favorite class. I loved your class,’” she said. “They don’t ever tell you when they’re in the room, but later down the road when they tell you things you’re like, ‘Oh, I did make a difference.’”

Every student who graduates from West Lauderdale High School spends five months in Mabry’s class, and during those five months, she said she does everything she can to give them the tools they’ll need to be successful.

“I teach them for five months, but I try to do as much as I can with that five months that I have them, and hopefully it’ll last them a lifetime,” she said.

About the Golden Apple

Mabry received a Golden Apple Certificate and $1000 (approximate value) in school supplies from Avery Products and $200 in cash.

A television program will be produced in May 2022 in honor of the monthly Golden Apple Award winners and to announce the Teacher of the Year. The program will be broadcast on CBS24, NBC30, FOX30, Bounce TV and METV.

The Teachers of the Year will receive a special award (The Meridian Star article), a custom-made Teacher of the Year Trophy, $1,500 cash to be used at their discretion and a $1,000 scholarship to be awarded to a deserving student in the teacher’s name.

Sponsors

The Title Sponsor is East Mississippi Electric Power Association (EMEPA). Presenting sponsors are EMEPA, NBC30, CBS24, FOX30, BOUNCE, METV, and The Meridian Star.

Key sponsors are Law Offices of Richard Schwartz, Mississippi Power Company, Woodstock Furniture and Avery Products. Participating sponsors are Meridian Coca-Cola Bottling Company – Muna Federal Credit Union – 1st Mississippi Federal Credit Union – Meridian Mutual Federal Credit Union – Meridian MS Air National Guard Federal Credit Union.

How to nominate an educator

Nominations for the monthly Golden Apple Award can be submitted by parents, faculty, or community members as well as past or present students. Candidates must be a current, full-time, faculty member in Pre-K through 12th grade (public or private) and work in the following counties: Lauderdale, Neshoba, Kemper, Clarke, and Newton in Mississippi; and Choctaw and Sumter in Alabama.

The nomination process consists of an essay (no more than 500 words) detailing why the person should be considered for the award. Nomination details and an entry form are available online at www.goldenappleawards.com.