If you were a student at West Sedona School between 1991 and 2021, chances are you had Jessica Nelson as your art teacher. After 30 years of bringing her art expertise to the classroom, Nelson is retiring.
Nelson’s journey started in 1990, when she obtained her art teaching credentials from Northern Arizona University. From there, she took her first teaching job at a middle school in Austin, Texas.
“The job ended up not working that well for me, as I had no support network and my daughter, whose allergies were triggered, was only 2 at the time. One of the last things I did before relocating to Texas was turn in my employment application to Cottonwood-Oak Creek School District,” prior to Sedona having its own school district.
“The new principal at West Sedona School, Russ Snider, decided they needed an art teacher and contacted me while I was in Austin to request an in-person interview,” Nelson said. “This happened over Thanksgiving break and I was immediately hired to begin teaching that spring. I went back to Austin, resigned at the end of the semester, packed everything up and moved back to Arizona,” Nelson said.
Nelson has called WSS home ever since and notes that her early days were more challenging as she was learning how to be a teacher to what was a predominately seventh-and eighth-grade population of students. It took around three years of threshing trial and error for her to fully acclimate and establish her brand of pedagogy at West Sedona School — but it’s been pretty wonderful since, she said.
Numerous treasured memories have punctuated Nelson’s three decades-long career, but apart from winning the Silver Apple award for excellence in teaching during the 2003-2004 school year, there is one moment that she says sticks out more than the rest.
“There is one other truly unforgettable event that occurred about eight years ago, when my beloved job was in serious jeopardy and my students fought for me to be restored to full-time employment. I went to the school board, begging for my position, and my students rushed in to support me,” Nelson said.
Two former students of Nelson, who were then in high school, wrote and presented to the board a beautiful slam poem about the importance of arts education. Some sixth-grade girls wrote a persuasive essay about arts education.
What is even more compelling is there was an eighth-grade boy who had done nothing in her class except get sent to the office a few times who spoke to the board stating, “Miss Nelson taught me art techniques and helped me with my homework after school.” Nelson began to recognize she was making a bigger impact on her students than she thought.
“I tried to teach him art techniques and offered to help him with his homework. That is when I realized I was reaching even the children who were not as engaged, whom I had perceived to have failed, another zenith for me as a teacher,” Nelson said.
Within a week of the school board meeting, her principal informed her that the district had figured out not only how to keep Nelson on for the next year, but to restore her full-time status as well.
“I was ecstatic over this outcome as it meant I wouldn’t have to leave my school, my students, my home and my town,” Nelson said.
Aside from the art legacy Nelson has created at WSS, Geoffrey Worssam, the Sedona Red Rock High School art teacher of 30 years, is also saying goodbye.
Nelson and Worssam have been acquainted since the beginning and have communicated art to generations of families within the community.
“Geoffrey Worssam and I have known each other for over 32 years. Before we ended up working as art teachers in the same district, we were studying art education at NAU. Whereas I have always been solely at WSS with the exception of a few years at Big Park, Geoffrey taught at the old Brewer Road School, then at Big Park, before finally ending up at SRRHS. Our connection as colleagues has been especially meaningful as we were able to communicate about our students and provide them with a continuously connected art curriculum K-12,” Nelson said.
When reflecting on her career, Nelson has many people she credits and wants to personally thank for getting her to this point.
“Russ Snider, my first principal, who took a chance on hiring me when I was so inexperienced. I think it’s a rare occurrence to have one person direct the course of another’s life to the degree that he was able to influence mine, though neither of us could have known it at the time. I am thankful to all my other principals who appreciated and encouraged the work I did with children — Susan Simon, Greg Kirkham, Lisa Hirsch, Scott Keller, Debbie Jones and Aaron Coleman. I cannot emphasize enough the importance of having an understanding and supportive leader,” Nelson said.
Although many things have changed over the last three decades, Nelson’s philosophy and teaching style has remained the same.
When asked what the most rewarding thing has been about serving as the WSS art teacher for the last 30 years, Nelson alluded to her colleagues and students she has taught as well as the Sedona community.
“The relationships that I have developed with my students, their families, my colleagues, and the larger community of Sedona have been the most rewarding. I had my students for nine years, kindergarten through eighth grade. We got to know each other well as I watched their art skills blossom along with their personalities and passions, and by the time they were adolescents, we were like family,” Nelson said.
As for what is next for Nelson, she has no plans of slowing down.
“I think I want to do everything. I have been continuously in school as either a student or teacher since I was 3 years old and am looking forward to complete, unfettered freedom. I want to make my own art, which involves continuing work on my ‘Art House,’ where I have resided for 28 years, as well as my own ceramic sculptures. I also love gardening and socializing, and hope to travel as much as I can afford to.”
“I am also looking to publish my art lessons on YouTube as a legacy for all my former students and their children,” Nelson said. “My art education philosophy has remained constant over all these years: That while my students may not choose careers in the arts, the hues of creativity that colored their learning in my classroom will continue to be reflected in their personal and professional lives as they shine in the full spectrum of their humanity.”
