With a resume as diverse as her painter’s palette, West High art teacher Molly Sofranko has worn many hats—from the kitchen, construction site and now the classroom. The lessons she’s learned through her many jobs are now the same ones she teaches her students.
The beginning of Sofranko’s job journey starts at 11 years old, working at her dad’s restaurant in Iowa City. From then on she has worked in many service jobs which she believes is a good way to build character.
“I think that having 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.
Along with real job experience, Sofranko also values education. She is a University of Iowa graduate with a Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts and a minor in Spanish. While in college she enjoyed being a studio assistant for various art professors.
“That was fun, just working for professors in their studios while they made their own artwork. So kind of being like an art minion,” Sofranko said.
After graduation, Sofranko’s jobs took her all over the country, from construction work in New York state to gardening in the Japanese gardens in Portland.
“Manual labor jobs gave me a good work ethic as far as just sweating and having a good, hard day’s amount of work,” Sofranko said.
Seven years after she graduated, Sofranko was doing construction work and hurt her back, so she started subbing on the side. This made her realize her passion for teaching. She returned to school to gain her teaching license and moved back to Iowa to start teaching.
“Teaching is honestly the hardest job that I’ve had because people depend on you, and nobody is telling you how to do it,” Sofranko said.
Since she got her teaching certificate, Sofranko has taught at many schools in Iowa, including teaching future educators at Mount Mercy College and visual arts at McKinley High School, before eventually ending up at West this fall.
“[Teaching] is like a good lifestyle. It’s fun to hang out with students, and I [thought] I should go back to school. And that’s when I got my teaching certificate,” Sofranko said.
What drew Sofranko to West was her previous experience teaching high school students, which she enjoyed more than elementary or middle school teaching.
“You just see this explosion of passion in high school that you don’t see in other levels,” Sofranko said.
Sofranko’s favorite part about teaching at a larger school like West High is the multitude of class options available. Sofranko teaches a variety of art classes including photography, digital or video production, ceramics, sculpture, stained glass and expressive drawing.
“I love how many classes you can teach and how many classes that students can take,” Sofranko said.
Working at West is also nostalgic for Sofranko, as she grew up in Iowa City and has many family ties to the Iowa City Community School District.
“It’s been really amazing to work in my hometown again,” Sofranko said.
Her coworker and friend, art teacher Christian Aanestead, mentions Sofranko’s positive attitude and how well she works with students.
“I think she’s really great at finding a connection with each project, with each kid,” Aanestad said.
Compared to her other schools, Sofranko loves that the classes she teaches are very art focused and the students are very motivated in the art room.
“It’s been really nice to see students who excel at art and who also like to come into the art classroom with other interests, ” Sofranko said.
West student Kaleshna Udas ’27 shares her experience taking exploratory art with Sofranko.
“She’s very, very laid back, but not too laid back to the point where she doesn’t teach her class at all,” Udas said. “She tries to help us out and it really makes us enjoy our lives.”
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.
As someone with a lot of experience trying different jobs, Sofranko’s advice to any student struggling finding their future career is to take any opportunity to explore different fields.
“[Take] advantage of those job shadows and career fairs and take it slow if you need to.”
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