By Dixon Stone

The Vicksburg Post

 

Molding the minds of students, inspiring them, and making a mark on their thoughts and ideas in and out of the classroom is in the job description for most teachers.

This holds especially true for Warren Central High School ceramics teacher Jonathan Hart.

In his eighth year as a teacher, coast- native Jonathan Hart didn’t originally plan to become a teacher.

“I started off at Mississippi State with no intentions of being a teacher—I was a graphic design major,” Hart said. “But I guess I realized in about my third year of college that I didn’t want to do graphic design; I wanted to be a teacher.”

But Hart explains that the route he took to where he is today didn’t follow the path that most of his coworkers chose.

“I’m sort of your abnormal teacher,” he said. “I didn’t go through the education program. Instead, I earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts and translated that into being qualified to teach art through the Praxis and alternate routes.”

Hart’s inspiration to transition from graphic design to art education was influenced by several factors.

“I absolutely love art,” he said. “But I know that my inspiration from art came from my high school art teacher and my love for teaching came from my mother, who was a teacher for 30 years. So, it was really just a ton of different influences that brought me to where I am today.”

Hart makes it clear that building students’ knowledge base in ceramics and art, for the most part, is from the ground up.

“In the classroom I try to give students a full basis of pottery,” he said. “Most of these kids come into ceramics with little to no knowledge or experience in pottery.

“It’s different. It’s not like math, where they come in knowing that ‘2 + 2= 4’ and then I bring it further. It’s more; it’s everything from a full introduction to ceramics (teaching them pinch, slab, coil and wheel) and then bringing it further as they are lead on to ceramics II. They get to use all of those techniques and let their minds guide what direction they go in.”

As an educator, Hart cherishes most the relationships that he gets to make with his students, the impression that he can make on their lives, and the impact they can make on his. “It’s all about the relationship with the students. I mean there is something about being able to help a kid out and build them up. And they do the same for teachers, you know? Every day on TV you see some teacher talking about, ‘Oh, I get to build these kids up,’ but in reality the kids are doing the same thing for them.”

But Hart’s impact goes beyond the classroom and trickles into the community. Hart crafts all of the bowls given as awards at the annual Chill In The Hills race in Vicksburg.

“[Chill In the Hills] is an awesome event and cause to do it for,” he said. “It’s a huge race that so many people from the city take part in. And it’s not only an opportunity to put my artwork out there — I can use it in as an example the classroom as well. It demonstrates to the kids that there is a total realm for them to utilize their artistic skills and showcase their artwork outside of the classroom setting. So many students, from here especially, will see artwork, but never think of it as a profession or a way to make money. They instead think of it as more of a hobby.”

In his free time, Hart sticks to mainly two passions: Art and Mississippi State sports.

“I definitely do a lot of art, but I’m also a massive Mississippi State fan,” he said. “I love to watch the Bulldogs play. So it probably just comes down to sports and art. It’s a weird combination, I know, but it’s me.”