In August of 1998, Columbus native Denise Kocur and her two daughters stood in front of a Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp. job notice bulletin board. Denise scanned the board intently, looking for the right job opening.
“There was nothing really on the board, which was kind of disappointing,” she said. “But they brought to my attention and had me take a seat, that there was a possibility that there was an opening at Central Middle School and North, a traveling position. So really, it just turned out where somebody didn’t take the job, so I went into the job pretty much that first day of school.”
Now, 22 years later, Denise is retiring from her position as 2-D art teacher at Columbus East High School — and her replacement is none other than her daughter, Alison Kocur.
While Denise got her bachelor’s degree from Ball State University in 1976, she didn’t become a teacher immediately after graduating. Instead, she and her brother, Roger Banister, were professional bluegrass musicians from 1976 to 1990.
After that, Denise spent some time as a stay-at-home mom. She then taught preschool for five years at First Christian Church Preschool, the same school her daughters attended. In 1998, she was re-certified through courses at IUPUC and began looking for work, which led her to BCSC.
Denise has taught art at BCSC schools for 20 years. During her time in the school corporation, she also spent one year as a library assistant at Central Middle School and one year teaching family and consumer sciences.
Alison, who just finished her eighth year of teaching, joined BCSC in August of 2019. Before that, she was with the Plainfield Community School Corp. This past school year, she held a traveling position where she was the sole art teacher at Columbus Signature Academy New Tech and the 3-D art teacher at Columbus East. Now she will step into her mother’s position as 2-D art teacher while also teaching a few other art classes, as did her mother.
Alison graduated from Purdue University in 2012 with a degree in visual arts education. She is working on getting a master’s in curriculum and instruction from the University of Indianapolis.
“Some people take a master’s degree and want to go into an administrative role, like a principal, athletic director,” she said. “And for me, my main focus was being bettered for my students. Because, as I teach, there are new ways to teach, new methods to teach that I have not been taught before. So for me to be a better teacher, I need to be constantly learning, growing and challenging myself to be better.”
“I did not get a master’s,” her mother said. “It just seemed, between family and so forth and time, I just never had the chance to go and get one. So what makes me happy is Alison is finishing up her master’s degree in art education. So I’m very tickled about that.”
For Denise Kocur, going into art education was a way to pursue her passion for art while also getting to share the subject with students. Alison’s choice to pursue art education was inspired by her mother.
“It was something that I did not immediately recognize, because when I started at Purdue, I initially thought I might pursue a different degree,” Alison explained. “And when I started taking some of those foundational courses in an art-related field, I realized it wasn’t what I was passionate about.” Her mother suggested that she look over the curriculum list for art education and see if it interested her.
“I started looking at the classes I would get to take, and I got really excited about it,” Alison said. And once I started getting into my field experience courses, where you actually go into a classroom and work with students, I realized, like, that was kind of where I wanted to be. Like that was just, it was a great fit. It was something that I got excited about each and every single day.”
When asked what the best part of being a teacher is, Alison replied, “Getting to teach what I love with people that I love. … That’s students and coworkers.” She added that while some see teaching high school students as a daunting task, she enjoys the way each student is unique and puts his or her personality into the artwork.
Denise said that she enjoys helping students become “art patrons” who share their love of art with others.
“We all have our talents,” she said. “They all need to be practiced, but the thing that I can give to you, and I hope to give to you, is my knowledge of this subject area. I want to share every little piece I can, and let you know how great it is to have art in your life. And I look at art as all the art forms. The music, the dance, of course, the visual art, the photography, the visual communications classes we also offer at East. These are ways to express yourself. And I wanted to be a teacher that it was known that I love to express myself. And I hope that I could teach and help them know that that enthusiasm is an important part of living.”
Alison is, in her mother’s words, an “art advocate” as well. She said that while some people think that art is only for a “specific group of talented people,” that’s not true.
“Art’s for everyone,” she said. “It’s something that everyone and anyone can participate in.”
Denise plans to stay involved with the arts; her plans for retirement include playing music with her brother and make her own art — she likes to paint, draw, sew and quilt. She also plans to spend time with her grandson and travel with her husband once things return to normal. Her hobbies also include gardening and genealogy.
In addition to being the 2-D art teacher, Denise was also the art coordinator at Columbus East. In that role, she oversaw the budget, participated in department chair meetings and oversaw purchases and inventory. While Alison is stepping into the role of 2-D art teacher, the new art coordinator has not been officially announced.
“I have some really big shoes to fill,” Alison said, when asked how she felt about taking over her mother’s teaching position. “She has made some incredible relationships with students. She has students that love taking her classes from year to year. She has worked incredibly hard to get her students’ artwork to a certain level. And she has worked extremely hard to just get where she is and to make sure that she is creating a very reputable and high quality program. And I hope that I can bring the same diligence and the same hard work that she does.” She added that she is “excited for the opportunity” that is ahead of her.
Her mother said one of the most gratifying things for her is that she has helped one of her own kids to become an art teacher or an artist. “Alison is an art advocate in her own right,” Denise said. “She’s a good artist too. And she really loves teaching. And I think the biggest thing is she really loves her kids. … The short time she’s been at Columbus East and CSA, she knows her kids on a first-name basis, and she is interested in what they’re doing, and she talks to them. And I just think it’s great. So I’m very, very proud of her, and I think that the Columbus East art department is in very good hands with Alison.”
