Self-taught art teacher Leah Hackle encourages her middle school students to never give up

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    METTER, Georgia (WJCL) — Leah Hackle never had plans of becoming a teacher.

“The honest reason why I came here first was I needed a job. When I came here and started to get into this teaching habit, I just fell in love with it,” Hackle said.

She started her teaching career at Metter Elementary before starting at Metter Middle School five years ago. Hackle actually launched the art program and is completely self-taught.

“(I have) no formal training. There wasn’t any kind of art class I was a part of. It’s all been self-taught. I tell my kids this all the time, ‘You know, if you have that passion to continue practicing every day when you spend hours and hours and put those that time and like that effort, those results are going to come out,'” Hackle said.

Hackle works with her students on traditional art concepts like drawing and painting but has also brought in technology to teach things like animation. Sixth grade student Shelby Parker was the one who nominated Hackle for this award. Parker said she thinks she wants to be an animator after taking Hackle’s class.

“The honest reason why I came here first was I needed a job. When I came here and started to get into this teaching habit, I just fell in love with it,” Hackle said.

She started her teaching career at Metter Elementary before starting at Metter Middle School five years ago. Hackle actually launched the art program and is completely self-taught.

“(I have) no formal training. There wasn’t any kind of art class I was a part of. It’s all been self-taught. I tell my kids this all the time, ‘You know, if you have that passion to continue practicing every day when you spend hours and hours and put those that time and like that effort, those results are going to come out,'” Hackle said.

Hackle works with her students on traditional art concepts like drawing and painting but has also brought in technology to teach things like animation. Sixth grade student Shelby Parker was the one who nominated Hackle for this award. Parker said she thinks she wants to be an animator after taking Hackle’s class.

Hackle said she loves teaching middle school because she has the opportunity to see her students grow from sixth to eighth grade. She says she’s always encouraging them to keep trying.

“I think one of the major things that art offers in the school that you might not necessarily get in a traditional classroom is just this openness and this unknown area to try new things and fail and watch that still become a beautiful process,” Hackle said.

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