Some people decide at an early age what they want to do with their lives. Others take a more measured approach.
Danielle Schooler, new art instructor for Lincoln and McKinley elementaries, is in the second group.
“I wasn’t quite sure what I wanted to do and took a couple of years off from school after Allen County (community college),” said Schooler, a 2003 Iola High graduate.
It was during that time Schooler decided to carry her love of art into a teaching environment.
She and husband Josh, who drives for an energy company, have a daughter, Evie, 2, and will have a second child, a son, in December.
She found out as soon as possible the gender of her next child, because, Schooler said, “I’m a planner. I have to know what’s going to happen so I can plan for it,” a trait that will serve her well in education.
Organization has its limits, though.
Schooler’s students may have artistic talents, but few have had more than minimal training, which means a good portion of her time is devoted to acquainting them to use such things as compasses, rulers and scissors.
She doesn’t, however, have a cookie-cutter approach to teaching.
“Each child is different. They have their own ideas. We don’t have stencils and paper isn’t lined. The students do everything from scratch.
“I teach them that it’s OK for their creations to look different from another student’s,” she said.
SCHOOLER can’t remember when she didn’t like to paint and draw.
From the time she was old enough to grasp a crayon, she was putting her mark on paper.
“I was always into art and Mom (Barbara Murry) encouraged me,” she said.
