Kim Goettl’s artistic creativity and enthusiasm for learning makes her the perfect fit to be the High School and Middle School Art Teacher in the Stanley-Boyd Area School District. Kim is a Stanley-Boyd alumna who participated in volleyball, golf, basketball, and softball before she graduated in 2000. From there, Kim attended the University of Wisconsin-Stout where she received her degree in Art Education in 2005 and also played fastpitch softball. After teaching in the Cornell, New Auburn, and Thorp School Districts, she began teaching at Stanley-Boyd in 2010, a career decision that she said was an “easy one.” “Since growing up in this community and graduating from SBHS, I knew I wanted to come back here to teach and raise my family,” she states and shares that she wanted to become a teacher since she was 16.
Kim credits her father as one of the reasons why she decided to pursue a career in education. She explains, “My Dad was a teacher and coach for 30 years and I always appreciated his schedule and how much he was home and involved.” She describes why she decided to focus on art education. “Since childhood I have had a passion for making art as well as athletics. I started as a summer rec coach when I was 15 and knew that I enjoyed working with kids. It seemed like a win-win and easy choice to become an art teacher and coach.”
Following in her father’s footsteps, Kim also coaches many students in various sports, including flag football, basketball, softball, and baseball.
If Kim wasn’t a teacher, she remarks that she would still be in a creative field. “I wouldn’t mind using Photoshop all day long,” she says.
Kim lives on a hobby farm north of Thorp with her husband of 17 years, Sam, and her four sons, Gunnar, Porter, Baylor and Major, where they raise cows, dogs, and chickens. Sam is the technology education teacher at Stanley-Boyd and their four boys all attend school at Stanley-Boyd. Kim lives an energetic lifestyle with her family and when she isn’t influencing the lives of her students with her artistry, she loves to be active outdoors. She enjoys biking, fishing, kayaking, playing sports with her children, golfing, gardening, hunting, playing card games and painting. Kim also runs in Ragnar relays with friends and enjoys participating in the Loop de Lori Triathlon in Chippewa Falls. With her four boys involved in various sports at Stanley-Boyd, Kim loves to cheer for the Stanley-Boyd Orioles and her other favorite football team, the Packers. Her favorite authors are Brene Brown and Dan Brown, while Lauren Daigle and Adele are her favorite singers. ‘Phantom of the Opera’ and ‘Wicked’ are two of her favorite musicals.
Although Kim stays busy with her career and her family, she tries to be involved with her community in her free time. “People can usually find me helping with youth athletics. I was the head softball coach for eight years, coached Middle school girls basketball, and volunteered a lot of time coaching and helping with flag football, youth basketball, and youth baseball. Besides sports, I have been involved with helping my church at community events and my art club painting murals in the community.”
Kim wants parents to know that being an art teacher is more to her than a job, it’s a lifestyle. She wants her students to be successful and she encourages and supports her students daily. “I have three main objectives in my classroom. 1. Take responsibility; this is a big life lesson for adolescence. I want them to take responsibility for their actions, behaviors, and their learning. 2. Creative thinking: come up with multiple solutions or ideas to a prompt or problem. 3. Create Art: I am here to show them techniques with a variety of mediums to create art. I also encourage them to push themselves and their skill further than they think they can achieve.”
She adds, “Teachers really want the best for their students. We work very hard every day.”
Kim’s compassion for her students helps her to understand that you can’t always see what someone else is going through and it’s important to treat students with the same caring attitude that you would want to be treated with. “You never know what path someone else is walking through. The resilience that I see every day is astonishing. Each student has their own story and own struggle. It’s a good reminder to not jump to conclusions,” she says.
Kim points out that her biggest challenge has been navigating issues with class size. “Through the years new challenges have arisen. In the last decade I would say one of the top challenges is class sizes. As much as I would love every student to take my class, it was very difficult when the class roster gets large. It is tough to get around and help everyone, prep all the of the material and tend to individual needs and behaviors of the students.”
Despite the challenges, Kim’s passion for art drives her students to work at their highest level. She comments, “I am always excited to see how the students have changed from year to year. It’s fun to catch up from last year and so exciting to get to know new students in my room. I’m always impressed with the new ideas and concepts my students come up with.” Her love for teaching has made an impact on her students for the past fourteen years and she loves being a part of it.
“The art room is always an interesting and busy place. There is never a dull day. I love being in this classroom that easily allows me to build a rapport with my students. At the end of the day, my favorite part is seeing when things finally click for a student whether it is with their artwork or with a life problem.”
The Stanley-Boyd community is blessed to have educators like Kim Goettl, who help their students grow and thrive each year. The dedication and support they offer to their students empower them to achieve success in their educations and in their lives.
