Retiring Oneco art teacher is a Chalkboard Champion

ONECO, Fla. (WWSB) - After 39 amazing years, Kelly Warne is hanging up the paint brush. She has loved her time as the art teacher at Oneco Elementary School.

“It’s been an amazing journey. When I first started out, Oneco was the furthest school east between here and Myakka,” Warne says. “They redid the school and a lot of changes in the facilities, but I think kids are always the same. They stay the same. Most kids enjoy art, so we usually have a lot of fun, and we learn a lot through art.”

As long as her students are opening their minds and staying creative, she’s happy.

“In this day and age of standardized testing and mechanical automation computers, I think hands on skills are really important and something some kids are losing. I think that’s a way to activate your brain and to think outside the box. There isn’t always one right answer,” says Warne.

She’s now teaching the children and grandchildren of her original students.

“It is amazing. We did a mural a few years back so I will have parents that come here and point out the tile that they made when they were a kid here,” says Warne.

She has never asked for thanks or recognition, so a check from Carl Reynolds Law is a well-deserved gift for all the hard work over the years.

Six-year-old Niyari says, “I am going to miss her, and I don’t want her to leave this school.”

Warne says, “I really enjoy them, and I enjoy the creative process. They are a spark of life for that.”

Congrats Ms. Warne on an incredible career!

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