With a resume as diverse as her painter’s palette, art teacher Molly Sofranko has worn many hats — from the kitchen, to the construction site and now the classroom. Now, Sofranko uses the lessons she’s learned from her many jobs to teach her students.

Sofranko’s job journey began at the age of 11 when she started working at her dad’s restaurant in Iowa City. Since then, she has worked in many service jobs, which she believes are beneficial for building character. 

“A customer service job where you have to be nice to people, even if you don’t feel like it, is really valuable,” Sofranko said. “It teaches you [that] at work you still need to do your job, even if you have a bad day.”  

As a University of Iowa graduate with a bachelor’s in fine arts and a minor in Spanish, Sofranko emphasizes the value of education. However, as a studio assistant for various art professors during college, she believes work experience is just as important.

“[It] was fun working for professors in their studios while they made their artwork; [it was] like being an art minion,” Sofranko said. 

Gallery • 10 Photos

Used with permission of Molly Sofranko

While teaching in Cedar Rapids, Sofranko made this piece for a youth orchestra fundraiser. Using a broken viola, she cut, painted and up-cycled it into art, taking inspiration from the common magician trick of sawing someone in half.

After graduation, Sofranko’s jobs took her all over the country, including the Japanese gardens in Oregon.

“I sat for hours listening to the rain, surrounded by temperate rainforests,” Sofranko said. “The [gardens] were an incredible place to be.” 

After working in the gardens, Sofranko began working for a construction company in New York. Similar to how her customer service job built character, Sofranko credits construction for making her more hardworking and resilient. 

“Manual labor jobs gave me a good work ethic as far as sweating and having a good, hard day’s amount of work,” Sofranko said. 

While working in construction, Sofranko sustained a back injury so she started substitute teaching on the side. Sofranko tried substitute teaching because of her previous experiences with her high school art teacher.

“She was one of my favorite people in the whole world,” Sofranko said. “So I was open to [trying] teaching.”

As she continued working in the classroom, Sofranko realized her passion for teaching. She then returned to school to get her teaching license. After moving back to Iowa, she began a full-time teaching career. 

“Teaching is a good lifestyle; it’s fun to hang out with students,” Sofranko said. 

Out of Sofranko’s 30 jobs, she notes that teaching is the most challenging. 

“Teaching is the hardest job that I’ve had because people depend on you, and nobody is telling you how to do it,” Sofranko said. 

Since receiving her teaching certificate, Sofranko has taught at many schools in Iowa, including Mount Mercy College and McKinley Middle School in Cedar Rapids, before she came to West this fall. Sofranko was drawn to West because of her prior experiences teaching at the high school level. 

“You see this explosion of passion in high school that you don’t see in other levels,” Sofranko said. “You actually see students in high school developing a unique style and a real voice.” 

Additionally, Sofranko loves the multitude of class options offered at larger schools like West. Currently, she teaches a variety of art classes, including photography, digital and video production, ceramics, sculpture, stained glass and expressive drawing.

Working at West is also sentimental for Sofranko, as she grew up in Iowa City and has many family ties to the Iowa City Community School District. Besides reuniting with family, Sofranko has met new friends working at West. Her coworker, art teacher Christian Aanestad, notes Sofranko’s positive attitude and how working with her improves his own teaching.

“I [like] the positive energy that Molly brings. She is super knowledgeable, very intelligent and a great teacher,” Aanestad said. “In that way, she motivates me, and that makes her a great co-worker.” 

In the past, Sofranko has worked at a project-based school and an alternative high school. Compared to these schools, Sofranko finds that her classes at West are more art-focused and loves how motivated her students are in the art room.

“It’s been really nice to see students who excel at art and who come into the art classroom with other interests,” Sofranko said. 

Exploratory Art is a foundational art class that focuses on visual art forms. Kaleshna Udas ’27 shares her experience taking Exploratory Art with Sofranko. 

“I really enjoy making projects together because she always provides informative advice and constructive criticism when necessary,” Udas said. 

Udas also mentions her favorite project she worked on with Sofranko, emphasizing how helpful Sofranko was in the process of creating it. 

“Our latest project was an extension of the body sculpture,” Udas said. “Sofranko helped me come up with ideas for that particular project, and she gave me cool new ways to think about art. It was really a fun experience overall.”

In addition to regular classes, Sofranko advises the art club, led by Moss Stutsman ’27. Although Stutsman hasn’t taken a class with Sofranko, he has enjoyed working with her in Art Club throughout this fall.  

“She’s very hands-on; she’ll help you if you need help, but she’s not strict,” Stutsman said. “She’s a very good teacher.” 

Above all, Sofranko praises West High students for making her job enjoyable. She notes their enthusiasm and creativity, which creates a dynamic classroom atmosphere.

“The students are so kind and mature — it’s amazing,” Sofranko said. 

Even after all her jobs, Sofranko ultimately chose to come back to the art room. As a high school student, she always loved how free she felt when there. 

“I like other things, but art is the thing. I didn’t figure that out until a little bit later, but that’s why I became a teacher,” Sofranko said.