Teaching high school is not an easy feat. Combine that with starting to teach students who are already used to a teacher, a class routine, and specific rules, and it can get difficult even quicker, especially when that class is an art class—one that isn’t centered around hard and straight facts, but emphasizes subjective and conceptual feedback. But for substitute art teacher Sarah Scherini, all of that is exactly what she enjoys.

Scherini is acting as a substitute for the rest of the school year for art teacher Kelly Lampert, who is on maternity leave. She teaches two classes of Drawing and one each of Ceramics, Advanced Art Honors, and AP Art and Design, a mix that she describes as being a good rotation. Having always wanted to be an art teacher, this is Scherini’s second year teaching. Scherini double-majored in sculpture and painting, and later did her master’s in art education, which proved to be a valuable experience and helped to build her teaching skills.

“[Since before I can remember] art has been my happy place, what brings me calm,” Scherini said.

A challenge both she and Lampert have had to face is the issue for students transitioning from one teacher to another in the middle of the semester, especially in a class that values teacher and student connections. However, Scherini attributes her quick success in taking over for Lampert to hard-working students as well as Lampert herself.

“Mrs. Lampert is one of the most organized and together teachers […] but y’all have had such a good classroom community […] so it was pretty easy to step in and just kind of go with what y’all have already had,” Scherini said.

According to Scherini, she has transitioned into WA life relatively quickly, learning how to help guide students to become the best artists they can be.

“Mrs. Scherini and I are co-teachers on Google Classroom and so I can see all of the thoughtful feedback she has been providing to students on their artwork,” Lampert said. “I really appreciate that she is the type of teacher to recognize each individual student’s strengths and take the time to acknowledge those strengths.”

Something Scherini does differently to most other teachers, however, is create and play out loud a music playlist for each class; when one walks into a class she teaches, they can be sure to hear music softly playing. When Scherini first arrived at WA, she collected a few song recommendations from each student and put together playlists for each group of students. In addition to bringing the class together, Scherini also believes that music fuels inspiration for art.

“I think a class playlist is really fun. It kind of lets you show who you are a little bit,” Scherini said. “It’s like another community thing, I think. You get your own songs, you get your favorite ones, you get your couple you hate.”

Something that Scherini ascribes her growth as a person and teacher to are her having lived in multiple places over her life—born in South Carolina, Scherini’s southern accent still peeks through, especially when she says “y’all”. However, the first time she went out of the country was when she moved internationally to New Zealand before settling once again in the U.S. in New England to pursue her career. Ultimately, Scherini hopes that this year will be the first of many that she looks forward to spending teaching.

“Now I would say I love it up here [in New England] and would stay here the rest of my life. I really want to, especially as a teacher,” Scherini said.