“Always Persevere”: Potosi's New Art Teacher

by Jason Oyen

Every day, start to finish, a connoisseur of art brings joy to her students, keeps the art room spic and span, and never makes anyone feel out of place. She allows people to show their creativity, their inner self; she helps bring them out of their comfort zone. In recent times, Potosi School District was short on an art teacher, but found an undeniable applicant they couldn’t let go of.

Mrs. Kelsie Urbain (Von Hollen), the newest art teacher in Potosi, and the daughter of Naomi and Mike Von Hollen, was born on November 16, 1993 in Dubuque, Iowa. Urbain grew up in upper Dubuque, near Stephen Hempstead High School. To begin her education, she attended Hoover Elementary School and went on to attend Roosevelt Middle School, both in Dubuque. As a child, Urbain remembers playing with her siblings in a pink battery-operated Barbie car. Eventually, the motor broke, but instead of throwing it away, she and her siblings pushed it up a hill, rode it down, but couldn’t stop easily, so they ended up wiping out. Growing up, she and her siblings would always find something to keep them entertained. With her being the youngest of the bunch, her siblings would always find a way to scare her, whether it be hiding around the corner and jumping out at her, making her watch scary movies, or getting chased around the room by her brother who had pantyhose on his head. “It was never a dull moment,” said Urbain.

Once high school rolled around, she kept herself busy, whether she worked, participated in extracurriculars, traveled overseas, or worked on art. During the 2007-08 school year, Urbain began attending Stephen Hempstead High School where she took part in the color guard. “I really enjoyed the color guard and going on trips to compete. I was in the Colt Cadets which was a drum and bugle corp which I enjoyed doing,” said Urbain. Later on, she found a job at Fairway where she worked in the bakery. She remembers having to make and package the food along with decorating cakes. “The job was a little boring but the people I worked with made it fun!” In the meantime, Urbain started to feel adventurous. “I went to Europe, Italy, France, and Switzerland. I did a lot of sightseeing, went on the London Eye, saw Big Ben, went to Pompeii, which I thought was really cool. I went and saw the Eiffel Tower which I thought was amazing because I always wanted to do that. I went to Venice, went to the Sistine Chapel and saw David, a statue by Michelangelo.”  

After graduating high school in 2012, knowing that she wanted to be an art teacher, Urbain needed to find a college that fit her needs and had the programs that she wanted to participate in. While researching colleges, she found that the University of South Dakota was the college for her. The college had a fantastic art department, along with an outstanding color guard. “I recommend participating in color guard, you can meet a lot of new people that way, you can also go on band trips, which are always fun.” Just like high school, Urbain also needed a job while she was in college. “I worked in the cafeteria, then I worked at a coffee shop. I worked with an older lady by the name of Jean who was like a grandma to everyone who came to the coffee shop on campus. She always had a great attitude and cared about everyone. If you were willing to talk, she would listen.” Urbain went on to graduate in 2016.

“If there was anyone I looked up to, it would have to be Mr. VanVleck, my elementary art teacher who still teaches at Hoover Elementary. He was awesome, he was one of the teachers who inspired me to become one. I’ve always loved art and sharing creativity, seeing what people come up with is really neat.”

Before she acquired a job at Potosi School District, Urbain taught at West Carroll High School which had about 400 students in the high school. They had budget cuts which caused her to leave her position there. Two years ago when Potosi was looking for a new art teacher, Urbain applied the same time as our previous art teacher Samantha Hilby. Hilby got the job, which left Urbain looking for another place to work. A year later, the art teacher position opened up once again, Urbain applied once again, and got the job. While going through this process, Urbain had one thought and one thought only. “Always persevere, never give up.” Urbain enjoys the small community, how everyone is positive here. “Not all schools are as positive as Potosi, everyone here should be grateful for that. If there's anything I like about teaching here, it's the fact that I get to see students from grades K-12, seeing their creativity, and hanging up their artwork.