Brandon Twp.- After more than 22 years of helping students express themselves, Julie Hock has retired as the Brandon Middle School art teacher.
‘I always liked the interaction with the kids,? says Hock, who also taught yearbook for 18 years. ‘Sometimes you think you missed one, a problematic kid, and they come back and tell you they miss your class or had a great time. You get a pat on the back from the kids you least expect, and it tells you that you did your best and have done a good job for most.?
Hock, 59, began teaching in Avondale in 1968. She was a permanent substitute for a first grade class for two years. She didn’t yet have a degree, but with three years of college, was able to teach. She left school to get married and returned to get an art degree from Michigan State University, because, she says laughing, ‘first grade was too much work and a huge responsibility.?
She came to Brandon in 1976 to do student teaching under Peg Hall and then got a job in 1977 as an art teacher at Academy of the Sacred Heart, an all-girls middle school in Bloomfield Hills. She returned to Brandon Middle School in 1984.
Hock’s emphasis in college was printmaking, but she found herself teaching clay as the prominent art form, because, she says, middle school students love working with clay.
When asked how one teaches art, Hock explains that she was able to instruct students in the how-to’s of working with a particular medium, like watercolor, pencil and charcoal. She taught students how to manage steps, having them them break items they were drawing into shapes if they told her they couldn’t draw.
‘The technical things you can teach, but the creativity comes from what they’re willing to try,? says Hock. ‘I tell students art is in them. They know what colors they like together. They have to dig for their own sense of balance, rhythm, and what they like.?
When grading, Hock says she gave a major amount of points on individual efforts. Even if a student didn’t produce a masterpiece, they could score well by working hard everyday.
Over the years, the efforts of the students and Hock paid off. Every year, she would enter 25 works of art in the Scholastic Art Awards competition for middle and high school students and she consistently had 5-12 winning pieces per year.
Hock also taught yearbook for 18 years, a class that she says changed tremendously over the years, going from graph paper to a totally interactive website.
‘Kids are so computer savvy now,? says Hock. ‘They adapt faster and do a fabulous job.?
In her retirement, Hock plans to do the things she never had time for, like traveling and downhill skiing. She has a pottery studio in her garage in White Lake and plans to make her own pottery and sell it. She also looks forward to spending more time with her grandchildren.
Hock recently was helping the teacher who will take her place at BMS. As she looked around, reflecting, students came around to say goodbye and wish her well.
‘It brought tears to my eyes,? says Hock. ‘But I’m enjoying retirement, too.?