Thankful

Students talk about the various mishaps and adventures in Room 136, Sukle’s second home. Students battling rough times found solace in that room, a haven away from teenage drama, according to 2004 graduate Holly Klem.

“We were all screwed up at that age,”she says, her voice softening as she remembers. “You could go there and not be judged. Irene allowed our pain to surface, which allowed us to heal. She helped us turn it into something beautiful. Because of her, I became a soldier of art.”
Little did this writer know what was happening to me. I remember hating myself and yelling at God for ever creating me. I couldn’t wait to die as young as I can remember. I felt that I was doing something wrong by simply living. I tried so many times to fix everything. Thank God I didn’t.
I think she knew, I mean everyone knew about my family or at least it felt that way. She never looked at me with pity or tried to talk to me about it. It was the way she taught me, and I didn’t even know it at the time she was secretly telling me there was nothing wrong with me, when everyone else wouldn’t stop telling me how different I was and they all thought I needed to be saved. Perhaps I did, I mean there were a lot of things that I could have been “saved” from. I wish I could just talk to her one more time. “how did you know exactly what I needed? WhenI was hell bent to be an actress in my letter of recommendation she said nothing about acting but everything about the arts, HOW DID YOU KNOW EVERYTHING? you made me feel, there are no words how you made me feel. You could tell me everything in a look.” The paintings I made became darker and darker until Finlay to darkest was made, she could have called the nurse or Principal of even my mother (heh) but she didn’t..she simply gave me an A and told me “This is beautiful but you understand why we can not display this on right?” I nodded. “nice work” in fact she HELPED me paint it! She helped me draw the figure and mixed the grey pink paint with me. I kept it, in fact because of that simple act of what she did, I felt confident enough to show my mother. My mother was distracted when I was young and I don’t blame her, but years later she and I talked about it. “so Hollie, I know that you were going though..” “Mom its ok now” “the painting..I just want to let you know I knew but I couldn’t do anything” “mom, God was taking care of me….thank you for not thrown it away”
Irene Let me stay after school as long as I wanted to work on silks, wire glass any project, after a while I did it so I could film the art studio for the whole school see what a haven it was. People made jokes about my obsession for art, and for once I laughed 🙂 I could laugh at myself 🙂 then I began to laugh a bit more, then a lot. That’s when the color came into my life REAL COLOR!!! YELLOWS ORANGE VIBRANT REDS!!! CLEAR water blues. mysterious purples. Oh lord it was amazing. What a feeling! And I was proud of it! I had a passion!!! A real passion! I wasn’t faking it!!!! It was real. I saw art in everything, in people at first, that how I began to understand why I cared for people so much, it was part of the passion. I loved rain, I loved pain, I loved the idea that I was allowed to be put on this world at this time in history I loved music! HAHAHA I loved MATH yes I even found art in that!. I was laughing and painting:) That’s what I became known for. Voted most eccentric and most artistic was perfect for me and I stood tall and proud while they took those pictures for the yearbook. God I wish she could read this. I know I have touched lived with my passion because I have been told with letters words and tears, I have been called a sage and honestly I have no qualms writing that because its what fuels me. Life is not the easiest thing in the world. In fact it can be downright painful I am proud of the people I have helped. In turn they have helped me. Vulnerability is where art begins its the seed. That’s what makes us cry during a movie, or scream a song from the top of our lungs in the car or paint a mixed media painting with mirror and glass….

God bless the teachers who care..