Art teacher Kathryn Katcher is retiring at the end of the 2025-26 school year. Katcher has worked at Aragon for 28 years.
“It’s time to do something else,” Katcher said. “I look at life as a journey, and it’s time to do something different … Don’t expect life to be a straight path. You don’t want to get from point A to point B, and when you die, say, ‘Look what a nice straight line I have.’ Doesn’t make [for] a very interesting story.”
Katcher stressed the benefits of retirement, citing newfound opportunities as a key perk.
“[It’s] an opportunity to spend more time with my kids and grandkids and do my own art and travel and do whatever the heck I want, sleep in [or] clean my closets,” Katcher said. “I’m just going to see where the wind blows me for a while.”
Throughout her years of teaching, Katcher had many unique experiences.
“The interesting thing about teaching is that every day is different,” Katcher said. “We’ve had lots of unexpected moments in our class, both good and bad. I’ve had wonderful artistic moments; I’ve had fights break out in my room; I’ve had all kinds of things.”
Many students praise Katcher for her supportive nature and passion for art.
“I really like her as a teacher,” said senior Elsa Richerson. “She’s really nice. She’s always supported me. I always feel comfortable in her room, even when I don’t have her as a teacher.”
Some students appreciate the variation of art mediums Katcher provides in her class.
“You get a lot of that creative freedom in her class specifically,” Richerson said. “You explore a lot more mediums than you do in other art classes because you can choose between regular drawings, paintings of various mediums. You can even do a couple of mixed media pieces.”
Katcher learned a lot after she transitioned from freelance costume designer to becoming a teacher.
“The biggest lesson I learned is being involved is always more fun than being on the outskirts, so put yourself out there,” Katcher said. “Jumping in the middle of things is good … When I first started here, I was a younger teacher, and [I was] busy with [my] family and I didn’t get to know my colleagues very well because I was just too overwhelmed. And then when you have a little more spare time, you get to know little bits and pieces of people.”
Katcher remains excited about all the changes that could happen for her in the near future.
