‘You don’t have to wear a mask in here’

Without a budget to buy supplies for class projects at Sapulpa Middle School, art teacher Allie Crall must either ask for donations, pay out of pocket or, most commonly, “save a lot of junk.”

“Scrounging happens a lot around here,” said Crall, adding that she gratefully accepts pencils students find on the floor and bring to her.

“It’s a struggle, but it’s kind of fun to try to piece together your year by what’s left in the closet.”

Principal Stephanie Kiesau put it more bluntly: “She uses trash to make art.”

From soda cans to QuikTrip cups, Kiesau has watched in wonder as Crall, in her second year as a teacher, uses her imagination to “find art in everything.”

Crall envisions her class as more than a place where students learn to use oil pastels — she wants it to be a judgmentfree zone where children feel validated as they express their individuality through their work.

“I mean, I teach art, but the real things that I want them to take away from my class are that you have a place where you can be who you are,” Crall said. “You don’t have to wear a mask in here.”

Seventh-grader Adrian Bailey, who’s currently taking the elective class for the second time, said that’s partly why Crall is one of his favorite teachers.

“You can actually draw without people making fun of your work,” Bailey said.

“You can draw, and it’s really, really fun. I feel like I have more freedom to do stuff.”

Not only will that help the middle-schoolers “find themselves” as they transition from elementary to high school, it helps Crall engage students who, she quickly discovered, couldn’t care less about the activities that used to make her excited about art class.

“I’m thinking back — I used to love art class, because you just had to color, and now they’re like, do I have to?” she said.

She’s learned to break that barrier by designing lessons specifically to engage them.

So rather than asking them to draw a stilllife of a bowl of apples in the middle of a table, she’ll find something that interests them — “they really like little action figures and things like that” — or allow them to pick the subject.

Seventh-grader Olivia Meador said the encouragement to express her originality through art has made her learn more from Crall than other art classes she’s taken.

“Some of my past art teachers, they tell you: ‘Make this story in this way, with these colors,’ and (Crall) says, ‘I want to see your story, not somebody else’s,’” Meador said.

Growing up, Crall never expected to become a teacher.

She wanted to be an architect for as long as she could remember, until she was at Oklahoma State University and realized she’d need a career with more variety.

So she switched to graphic design, focusing on illustrations for children’s books.

That’s when an elective course on special education led her to volunteer in a classroom where she first experienced giving a student that “aha moment” that teachers live for.

“And I was hooked,” Crall said.

Crall says the job has been perfect for her — No day is ever the same as the previous, and she’s constantly learning new things in an effort to keep art relevant for her students.

But forming relationships with students can be challenging as class sizes grow due to budget cuts shrinking the number of electives the school can offer.

Crall said she has about 150 students, divided into five classes across sixth and seventh grade.

“It’s really hard to keep them all engaged when you have 40 kids in a class,” Crall said.

Even so, her efforts have not gone unnoticed.

Bailey said it’s something he’ll remember about her years from now — “I would remember Ms. Crall because she was so interactive with the students, and talked to everybody.”

Meador agreed that Crall’s ability to form relationships with students sets her apart from other teachers.

“She really gets to know you. Not just know your name and know what your artwork is — she gets to know what you like and what you dislike,” Meador said.

“It makes me feel really good, because I know that she’s one of those teachers that if she gets to know you, you can trust her with stuff. Like if there’s something happening outside of the art room, you can come to her and tell her, and she is going to be able to listen.”