Starkville Rotary Club honored Andrew Lark, Starkville High School art teacher, as teacher of the month during its Sept. 30 meeting. As part of the recognition program, Lark selected two outstanding students to be honored. Starkville High juniors Sachiko Clay and Willie McGee were chosen as Rotary Students of the Month.
Nestled between the east parking lot and the main Starkville High building, the White House Studio has long been a hub of creativity and vibrant artistic talent on campus as Andrew Lark, the district’s veteran art instructor, leads students through an exploration of artistic media and methods from drawing and sculpture to photography and fashion design.
Lark is an award-winning art instructor who has earned statewide and national honors. He has been named Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated School District Teacher of the Year, Mississippi 3rd Congressional District Teacher of the Year and Mississippi Teacher of the Year. He is the recipient of the Rotary International Dr. Merrill Hawkins Excellence in Education Award and is a member of the Starkville Area Education Hall of Fame.
Students often credit Lark’s teaching methods, both in and outside their regular class time, with helping them to hone their vision and voice. The rigorous exploration of artistic methods has become a way of finding themselves and growing confidence in their own skills.
In choosing Clay and McGee as students of the month, Lark says he is highlighting two true ambassadors for the visual arts who have excelled in their chosen media at the state, national and even international level.
Clay was named one of only eleven finalists worldwide last December for the International Travelers Photography competition, in which her entries showcased her artistic eye as she traveled with her family to their native country, Japan. She has also been honored with first place in the Mississippi Congressional Art Competition and two silver medals in the Mississippi Scholastic Art Competition. This summer, Sachiko was awarded Overall Best of Show in the prestigious National BETA Art Competition in Savannah, Georgia for her white charcoal piece entitled “Dear Grandpa”.
Clay says she has enjoyed and benefited from the mentorship Lark provides.
“Thanks to Mr. Lark, I am learning the professional side of both photography and art,” Clay said. “Without this program, I would have never been able to do a fraction of what I am doing today.”
Similarly, McGee has excelled under Lark’s instruction as he has honed his artistic vision. This summer, he earned second place in the National BETA Art Competition for his color photograph entitled “God, Yes”. He also received first place at the Mississippi BETA Competition, as well as gold and silver medals in the Mississippi Scholastic Art Competition.
Under the direction of Lark, the SHS fine arts program has established a tradition of excellence, with students garnering numerous awards each year. Students have earned twelve Overall Best of Show National Congressional Art competition honors, which have allowed them to exhibit in the U.S. Capitol for the past 12 consecutive years.
During Lark’s tenure, SHS students have also been awarded over 550 state Scholastic Art Awards and 59 National Scholastic Art Awards, as well as National Beta Competition award winners in the school’s first two years of competition.
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