Jefferson School teacher earns statewide honor The Janesville Gazette April 5, 1999 Reprinted with permission

By Frank Schultz

Gazette staff

Second-graders are likely to tell you they're working with elephant snot in Tom Burgraff's art classroom at Jefferson Elementary School.

They're likely to be laughing and chatting or listening to music as they dip strips of paper into the "elephant snot" and slather the slimy stuff on a framework.

They're likely to be making dinosaurs, and loving it.

But they're on task, and they're learning the art of papier-mache.

That's the way Burgraff likes it, and it's part of the reason he is the state PTA's elementary-level teacher of the year.

"Elephant snot" is what Burgraff called the glue as he explained the project to his students. This teacher brings a lot of his inner child to the classroom, and the kids seem to love it.

"He is a fun art teacher; I can tell you that," second-grader Ashley Rasmussen said emphatically as she worked on a brachiosaur in a recent class.

Others were coating a stegosaurus and a Tyrannosaurus rex, each slightly larger than their own bodies, with papier-mache strips.

"Get the bellies! Get the bellies and the butts!" Burgraff instructed the 20 kids, who guffawed in delight and kept on working.

"Wow, are we getting far, guys." Burgraff encouraged them. "This is awesome."

"We do really fun projects, and then when we do 'em, he'll help us, like he is right now," Kory Pryor said. "He likes playing with us."

"He's a very good artist," Sam Waddell said. "He took classes for it. Very funny, too. ... Art's my favorite subject."

"Justin, try not to wear it, OK?" Burgraff called out to a student whose shirt was getting gooey with glue.

When cleanup time came, kids busily sponged up "snot" from the tables.

"Sponges in the sink! Let's make sure there are three chairs at each table," Burgraff called out as he tossed a wadded-up paper towel across the room, narrowly missing a trash barrel.

"Let's go! Move it! Move it! Move it!"

The kids finished their chores and lined up to return to their classroom, and Burgraff had time to talk.

The award is a boost, he said.

"It really makes me feel good about what I'm doing," Burgraff said, and it affirms the values that brought him to the profession and to Janesville seven years ago.

Some other art teachers are more structured, Burgraff admitted, and others' students produce technically superior work.

"But I like to see their artwork," he said. "I see a whole other idea of aesthetics in their work."

Burgraff said his goal is that by the time his students leave for middle school, they know what art is about.

They need to know how to spell and how to add and subtract, he reasoned. "So there's no reason they should be allowed to leave here doing stick figures."

And they should learn the basics of design, aesthetics and art history. There's more to history than wars and leaders, he added.

Burgraff is the best, parent Karla Haakenson said. Her son, 7-year-old Erik, comes home talking about painters she has never heard of. "And he's excited about it."

Burgraff, who sees many more different children each week than a classroom teacher, remembers their names and often can connect a child to a parent. He'll stop parents in the hall and tell them what a great time their child had in art class that day, Haakenson said.

"He really gets a thrill out of having shared that with the child and then sharing it with the parent," Haakenson said.

Burgraff will send clay or paints home with students and ask them to bring back artwork, no strings attached, Haakenson said.

"Mr. Burgraff has a way about him that is magnetic for the kids," Haakenson added.

"The kids all respond to his way of teaching," said Michele Schroeder, Jefferson PTA president.

Burgraff's work doesn't stop in his classroom. He works with other teachers, tailoring art projects to coincide with their classroom topics. He attends PTA meetings and always has something to contribute, Haakenson said.

During his lunchtime, he advises an art club for fourth- and fifth-graders.

He oversees the safety patrol and is team leader for art, music, phy ed, library, orchestra and band.

"He's just always available, and if he doesn't have the answer, he'll find out for you," Haakenson said.

For example, he designed art for a cookbook and T-shirt commemorating the school's 40th anniversary this year. And he and the gym teacher collaborated on mountain scenery in the gym to complement a climbing wall that was installed.

"He did that in his spare time because--that's Tom," said Jefferson Principal Alice Wilkens Mann.

And he's not afraid to ask parents for help, Haakenson said.

While kids love him, he also sets high expectations, Wilkens Mann said. And then he makes them feel good about what they accomplish.

What drives Tom Burgraff do all the things he does?

"He's a little kid himself, and he enjoys his work," Schroeder said. "You can just see--being around the kids seems to give him energy."

"I think there are people out there who are truly energized by kids," Haakenson said. "And he is one of those."

Posted April 8, 1999

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