HEBRON, Neb. — When she walks into the Thayer Central Intermediate and Elementary buildings, Anne Baden has an almost instant effect on children there.
Students see the silver-haired Baden in her "Got Art" T-shirt and flock to her, asking whether it's their day for art.
"You walk in the building and you are like this rock star," Baden said. "That's kind of a nice feeling to know kids appreciate you being in here. They're very respectful to me. It's being a teacher, but nicer than being a teacher."
Baden, 59, worked at schools in Hebron for 33 years before she retired in 2007. She has volunteered in the ensuing years to teach art at the elementary level for Thayer Central.
The gig has a lot of perks.
"I don't have to go to the meetings," she said. "I don't have to get dressed up. I don't have to work Sundays and late nights. So, it's really kind of the best of both worlds."
Baden provides Thayer Central with a curriculum the district wouldn't otherwise be able to provide because of budget cuts, elementary Principal Kurk Wiedel said.
"I think what she's done for us differently is she's given us art lessons where she will study an artist and give that as opposed to craft lessons," he said.
"Our teachers did a good job of cutting and pasting; we didn't always do a great job of teaching the art, and that's what Anne gives us."
Before she retired, Baden was teaching upper-level reading as well as working with students in the school's high-ability learner program. As with the art, Baden continues to spend a few hours each week with the high-ability learners. She also substitute teaches on occasion.
"She's actually here probably more than when she taught," Wiedel said. "Last night she easily put in an hour or two just putting up some of the examples for the kids."
Baden lives in Hebron with her husband, Clarence. Their adult son and his wife are elementary school teachers in Lincoln.
Baden tried retirement activities such as learning to knit, but she said working with students was too much fun to leave completely behind.
"It's nice being retired, but it's not all that exciting," she said. "Art is important, and our school couldn't provide an art teacher."
Recently she led students in Madalon Segelken's fifth-grade class in drawing hearts.
Each child used an identical heart stencil to create artwork. The lesson was focal points. Even though the drawings had the same heart, students arranged and colored their pieces differently, drawing the viewer's attention to a different location on each piece of paper.
Baden establishes rules for each project that give students a lot of room for personal expression. The finished product, she said, is more important than making sure all the right steps are followed to get there.
"Process doesn't make kids feel like artists," Baden said. "When a teacher leans their head in and says 'Oh, I looked at your flag paintings, they are fabulous,' every kid feels like . it's that finished product that makes them feel like an artist."
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