Christine Hilburn is not only one of two art teachers, but is also brand new to teaching at St. Charles High. Originally doing her student teaching under Abigail Birhanu, another art teacher previously here at High, Hilburn decided to return to the school as a teacher. However, according to Hilburn, she had started off teaching at St. Charles West and even still coaches for their girl’s Track and Cross Country teams.

Like most teachers, Hilburn did not just randomly decide that she would pursue this career path. 

“I loved art and was, or I am, an artist,” Hilburn explained, “but I wanted to be able to do art more professionally [rather] than making art and trying to sell it.” 

Hilburn also expressed her love of teaching art to others, saying that she loved the idea of teaching students and watching them grow in their creative works. This shows through her passion towards the subject while teaching throughout her classes.

Though it may seem that Hilburn originally wanted to be a teacher, her main field of study was actually in pottery. 

“I loved it, but I was looking for something a little more stable,” Hilburn expressed, “going into teaching art has been a great career decision for me.”

Unfortunately, Hilburn does not teach any pottery classes as of right now. Nonetheless, she still enjoys teaching art to others and loves the creative environment. This year she will be teaching Intro to Art, Drawing and Painting I and II and Graphic Design.

Hilburn shows excitement about the future years to come of her career here at High. The new teacher shows promise within her passion for art and teaching. The creativity bleeds through her to her students, and encourages them to be creative. For all the future artists, Hilburn leaves this message, “Art is a really challenging field, but it’s one of those fields that you have to just go for it.”