I went to Sergeant Bluff-Luton (SB-L) for my entire public school career. Kindergarden through graduation. I graduated with a class of about 86 and a lot of us went to school together for our whole lives.

In Elementary school our Art teacher was Mr. Bisenius or Mr. B for short. He was a great teacher, but I didn't realize how awesome until recently. A guy I went to school with through middle school, Jeremy, posted on Facebook that Mr. B was retiring after 40 years and actually sought him out, at his job, to give him back art work he had kept! How cool is that?!?!

Jeremy didn't stick around SB-L for high school, but everyone knew he was a good drawer and good at Art. Jeremy is doing art for a living now as a tattoo artist in Sioux City. So if you're ever in Sioux City and need some ink, check him out! Tattoos by Jeremy Boddy is currently working at Painless Pinworks in Sioux City. If you want to see some of his work you can see it on his Facebook and Instagram.

I doubt Mr. B kept any of my artwork. I wasn't exactly Picasso. But, I do remember Mr. B showed me that when you draw something with crayon and then go over it with watercolor, your drawing remains. The wax from the crayon repels the watercolor. As an adult it doesn't seem that magical, but as a kid, I thought it was amazing!

I still have the pinch pot I made in Mr. B's class too! And I remember first learning about Vincent Van Gogh from Mr.B.

And the one thing EVERYBODY remembers about Mr. B is his paper cutter demonstration on the first day of school. He had a big paper cutter in his classroom. The one with the machete looking handle at the end. He would cut out a paper hand and tell us never to touch the paper cutter. He'd go about his business with other instructions, meanwhile we all forgot about the paper hand and the huge paper cutter, until WHAM!! He would slam that handle down on the paper cutter and the paper hand would be fingerless. Needless to say, nobody ever touched the paper cutter!

To this day, if I see a paper cutter with the blade up, I panic, just a little.

That's a good teacher right there!

Jeremy's post has gone viral among SB-L alumni. They started a card drive, sending cards to the school for his retirement, and are even planning a party!

Mr. B was pretty great! 40 years teaching Art to the kids of Sergant Bluff-Luton and he was also a college professor at Morningside College.

Thanks for everything Mr. B!


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