Photos and audio by Adriane Matkovitch

Beth Smout, a traveling art teacher who works with students at both Caruthers Elementary School and the John A Logan School, says two things motivate her in her classroom. First is her love for children, and second is her love for teaching them how to use different materials and techniques and then seeing their excitement for what they create.

Over the course of six days, Beth teaches approximately 1,000 elementary students in Kindergarten through fifth grade at the two schools. On her own time, Beth enjoys painting and drawing and often has more than one project going at a time. In their home pottery studio, Beth and her husband Gene collaborate on potter pieces together. They enjoy different parts of the process, Gene the symmetry of the potter’s wheel and the problem solving aspects of design and developing the right glaze while Beth enjoys designing and altering pieces through carving or adding carved pieces to something that Gene has thrown for her.