Gretchen Bishop is a 9th to 12th grade art teacher at Portage High School. Bishop has been an art teacher at PHS for 17 years, but her art career started when she herself was a student at PHS, when one of her friends convinced her to take a painting class. At the time, she was a committed athlete to 3 sports, so of course, she wasn’t too fond of taking it.
“Being a three sport athlete, I wasn’t into things that I had to sit still for long periods of time,” Bishop said.
But after taking the class, she realized she not only had a great talent for art, but also a love for it.
“Had I never given myself the opportunity to try something new, I would have never known I had a talent for art,” she said.
After high school, she went to Purdue University where she earned her art degree. After graduating, Bishop began her career at Portage High School. One of the 3 sports she did in high school was track. One day the track coach came to her and asked for her to coach track, and she accepted.
“I was so glad to be given the opportunity to coach,” Bishop said. “It was difficult to make the decision to stop coaching. I absolutely loved coaching, as I am generally very competitive in nature.”
When Bishop is teaching, she emphasizes the importance of addressing student motivation and apathy.
“Sometimes, students think something is hard and don’t want to even try it. Apathy is such an ugly thing,” Bishop said. “Sometimes it’s a struggle to get kids to understand their full potential.”
Outside of teaching, Bishop enjoys drawing, painting, traveling, reading, DIY home projects, and being with her family. She also loves cheering on the Boilermakers and attending Purdue football and basketball games with her family.
