Sandy Schmick teaches Walter Wellborn High School kids to paint, to throw clay on a potter’s wheel, to fire ceramics in a kiln and to never take art for granted.

The 1991 WHS graduate said she’s lucky to be guiding young artists at her alma mater, the only high school in the Calhoun County school district that staffs a full-time art teacher.

She feels the job was her destiny: “I think it’s been saved just for me.”

The privilege isn’t lost on her students.

“It’s free. You get to draw. You get to post your work on the Internet. That’s how you get known.” said Wesley Brown, a Wellborn High sophomore who may pursue architectural engineering or graphic design work after graduation.

To help students carry the benefits beyond the classroom, Schmick has them create digital portfolios online where they can display their artwork and comment on one another’s items.

For students like junior Delisha Traylor, art class is a way to hone a lifelong hobby. For other students, Schmick said, it’s a reason to stay in school.

“I have some students who haven’t excelled in anything else, who are now excelling in art,” Schmick said.

She said preserving the art program has made WHS a well-rounded school where a greater number of students have the chance to succeed.

Although art programs have become an endangered species as public school funding becomes increasingly scarce, Schmick would be surprised to see administrators at WHS let their art program fail.

“The art program has been here for a while,” she said, “and we like to keep tradition.”

Schmick said she has discovered a wealth of hidden talent in her three years teaching at Wellborn and doesn’t think such discoveries are limited to her field of study.

“If you have talents in any area, we’ll find it,” Schmick said of the faculty at Wellborn High.

This deep investment in the students’ future is what drives Schmick to put in extra hours to ensure her students have the materials they need to develop their talents. To raise funds, the resourceful teacher turns to what she knows best: art.

Schmick has partnered with the Starbucks in Oxford to hold an annual auction to benefit the Wellborn art program. Students and the coffeehouse employees put their creations up for sale to the highest bidder with proceeds funding as much as 80 percent of the class projects.

Starbucks will host this year’s event sometime in April. Artwork will be on display in the coffeehouse prior to the auction.

Last year Traylor submitted a painting of a flower to the art auction and was proud when she found out it sold.

Taking their cues from their teacher, art students at Wellborn High use their skills to give back to the community, specializing in school-pride artwork.

They helped paint a mural in the lunchroom of a panther, the school mascot. They painted “Welcome to Wellborn” signs to go on Alabama 202. And during football season, they do face painting for their classmates before Friday pep rallies.

In the smiling faces, painted with black and white Panther pride, Schmick sees that students don’t take art for granted.

“The artists are so proud of their work,” she said, “and the kids wear it with pride.”

Gigi Alford is a student in the University of Alabama/Anniston Star Masters in Community Journalism Fellowship program.