NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — During his six years as an educator, Drury High School art teacher Kyle Strack has encouraged exploration and instilled in his students a sense of resiliency and self-acceptance. 

 

It is this impact that has earned him the iBerkshires Teacher of the Month designation. 

 

The Teacher of the Month series, in collaboration with Berkshire Community College, will feature distinguished teachers nominated by community members. You can nominate a teacher here. 

 

In Strack's classroom, students learn not to fear failure but rather to change their perspective and carry on, students said. 

 

He started his career at Greylock Elementary, where he earned the Distinguished Arts Educator Advocate Award for Visual Art from the state art education nonprofit Visual Art from Arts. 

 

For the last two years, Strack has been making his impact on the middle and high school students at Drury. 

 

Anyone can make artwork, Strack said. And giving students a safe space to explore and experiment provides them the freedom to make work that inspires them and that they really like.

 

"I think art is really helpful to have students kind of think critically and then also express themselves," he said.

 

"So, those are two main things I really like to focus on in all of my projects I work on — to give them a starting point and then have the students really jump off and express themselves creatively throughout their projects that they might make."

 

Art gives people a voice. It is an outlet where they can say things they might not say out loud or show to others, Strack said. "In their artwork, they can express themselves in ways that they might not normally do, which would help them in the future, to kind of break out of their shell and show other people what really matters."

 

Sometimes high school is a really exciting time, and other times it can be scary. So, giving the teenagers a creative outlet, whether it's drawing or creating a sculpture, allows them to express their feelings and themselves in ways they might not otherwise be able to.

 

"It can really give them their own voice in a way," Strack said. 

 

The art programs at Drury are really great and shows the community the talent the students have, from theater, sculpturing, or drawing, he said 

 

"It really showcases the hard work that these students put in, and it can show the creativity that these students have, and show the community what they have to offer." 

 

During the school visit, the classroom was filled with smiles and proud students showcasing their creative artwork, from pumpkins, teapots, mugs, and so much more. 

 

Art filled the two rooms, some pieces by students and some by Strack. The classroom is a working studio, he said. 

 

"I also try to make work alongside them, to show them the process that I go through and that we can make mistakes and we can change things as we go," he said. 

 

This is something senior Bradley Karmazyn said he will carry with him later in life.

 

Strack showed him to "look at everything from different angles. Say you're in a really tough spot. There's not always going to be an obvious way out of a certain situation, but like in this class, you can look at it from a different light, and try to mold something out of that you." 

 

Some students recounted specific moments when mistakes were treated as opportunities for growth.

 

"I was making a mug, and I really didn't like it, and we were about to start working on adding texture and stuff, so, he told me to just scratch it up and, like, be angry with it, and I ended up really liking the mug, and I gave it to my dad as a present. It was really great," said Eden Duval, a senior. 

 

Senior Eva Moser said Strack guides the students with the assignments but gives them room to be creative in their own way. 

 

"A lot of us aren't super experienced with ceramics, and it takes time and practice, and it can be frustrating, like, very frustrating, but he always has a positive, good mindset," she said. 

 

"Even if we don't like something … he'll help us make it into something that we will love and something new. And I really value that." 

 

Like the students he teachers, Strack has also come out of his shell since starting his job at Drury. 

 

Two years ago, he was quiet and introverted, said seniors Shaylynn Twing and Karmazyn, who have had Strack for the last two years. 

 

Today, the students feel comfortable joking around with him; treating him like a peer while also giving him the respect he deserves, Karmazyn said. 

 

Seeing this evolution in a teacher they look up to humanizes teachers and shows that they are people too, Karmazyn and Twing said. 

 

"They don't have to be boring, teachers that just yell at you to do work. They can be fun people who you can joke around with, and if you have problems, you can just be honest with them about it," Karmazyn said.

 

Strack attended Berkshire Community College before studying ceramics at Rhode Island School of Design in Providence.

 

He is a graduate of Taconic High School in Pittsfield and many of the reasons he became a teacher stems from the experiences he had with his high school teachers. 

 

"They kind of influenced me in what I like to create and kind of expressing myself, so I really wanted to show that and kind of spread that throughout the Berkshires," he said. 

 

Today, he is inspiring his students the same way his teachers inspired him.