Ellington

There are surprises, and then there are surprises that mean that you're living life the way you're supposed to: full-on and engaged in the world around you.

At 9 a.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 15, Kay Franz of the Power Academic & Performing Arts Complex got an unexpected visit from Jackson Public Schools Superintendent Earl Watkins. Unbeknownst to her when she left for work that morning, she was being named JPS' Teacher of the Year.

"Over the years, I have come to know Mrs. Franz to be one of the most energetic, caring teachers I have ever had," wrote Power APAC senior Nailah Horne in a recommendation letter for Franz. "She is the type of teacher that makes you want to come to class and do your work."

Since 2000, Franz, 52, has taught Studio Art, Art History, Ceramics, Sculpture, AP Art History and AP Studio Art to students in 4th through 12th grades. The Louisiana native lives in Ridgeland. She got her bachelor's degree from Louisiana State University and her master's from Mississippi College, both in art education.

The artist-teacher's Visual Arts Studio, which she calls "student-centered," has a "warm, homey environment … packed with color and pictures of her students," as APAC assistant principal Sharon Wheeler described in her recommendation. The studio's bathrooms are painted in the styles of Georgia O'Keefe and Andy Warhol. Wheeler praises Franz for her "constant verbal feedback to students." And, in an academic world focused so heavily on passing objective tests and benchmarks, Franz tells her students that it's OK to mess up sometimes and then cast about for solutions.

Student Horne says: "One thing I love about her is that when she does give you a project to do, she lets you take it in your own direction without restricting your creative imagination."

Franz, chairwoman of the Power APAC visual arts department for three years, started a Youth Art Honor Society and added college-level advanced placement art courses to the curriculum. She also started the practice of regular group critiques and written journal entries every week. She sends her students to work in the community—from painting a mural for the Belhaven pharmacy next to the Winn-Dixie to painting an eight-foot catfish for Jackson's Catfish on Parade.

Berets off to Kay Franz—a worthy mentor for the city's incoming members of the Creative Class.