Heidi Hensley: the art of education

When she was in high school, Heidi Hensley recalls her parents pushing her toward going to college. Now as an artist, former teacher, parent and an elected member of the Clarke County School District Board of Education, that drive is something that she wishes to pass on to both her own children and all students.

“My parents were very successful but did not go to college and were very blue collar. My academics in school were extremely important. I was pushed pretty hardcore by my family to succeed,” Hensley said. 

Born in Ellijay, Georgia, Hensley first enrolled at Furman University, where she played basketball until a career ending injury led her to transfer to the University of Georgia to finish her degree in architectural and interior design. 

“I’ve been here since 1999 and I just never left. Athens became my home,” Hensley said.

When she transferred to UGA, Hensley originally had dreams of making music and becoming a rockstar.

“When I first came to UGA, before I even picked up a paintbrush, I made music. I made CDs, you could go to iTunes and find my music. I thought I was going to be a rockstar. I toured and played music for years,” Hensley said.

Now an accomplished artist, Hensley started making art in 2011 when she painted a picture of a friend’s childhood home. Her experience in drawing houses from her architectural and interior design degree helped her grow a passion for painting. 

“Everything I’d ever done was very technical, but she (my friend) was like, ‘I really want you to try.’ It was a life changing moment because whatever came through on a paintbrush felt like a heaven’s opening moment — like this is what I’m supposed to do,” Hensley said.

She continued to produce paintings of houses as well as other Athens locations such as streets and local restaurants. She attributes her energetic, eye-catching style to painting with her children. 

“I had a 3-year-old and a 1-year-old running around at the time I started painting who were getting into everything. I would be holding a baby or be sitting with kids, so I couldn’t be like oil painters who stress over every detail for hours. I didn’t have that luxury, which ironically draws people to my art because of the quick and whimsical feel to it,” Hensley said.

That style can be seen in CCSD as well as other school systems. Hensley painted a 2800-square-foot mural in the Whit Davis Elementary School courtyard and one at Barrow Elementary School. 

“I recently finished 10 murals in Gwinnett County. I really like to do school system murals because I’m really into words and people seeing positive words all the time,” Hensley said. 

Hensley also painted a mural for the Hilsman Middle School cafeteria during her two years teaching art there. 

“It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life, but also the most rewarding thing,” Hensley said. “I eventually came to the realization that I wasn’t teaching kids how to paint. I was trying to connect to students and help them realize that they could do whatever they wanted to do.”

During her time teaching at Hilsman, Hensley built relationships with many of her students and saw firsthand some of the issues public schools face. She watched her students struggle academically and wanted to help.

“I got very close to the students I talked to, but it also really raised my awareness of the disparities and the challenges that a school district has for educating students and getting them ready for life,” Hensley said.

Leaving Hilsman in 2022, Hensley decided to focus on her art business, but she wanted to stay involved in CCSD. Encouraged by friends and family, she ran for school board, defeating her opponent 55% to 45%. Through her time at Hilsman, Hensley saw the inner workings of schools as well as the problems teachers and faculty faced. 

“I realized how many kids would pass grade to grade and not be given the opportunities that they really needed. That was very impactful to me and one of the reasons I want to keep a close relationship with Clarke County,” Hensley said.

Seeing the disparity in opportunities students had, Hensley felt the school board was a place she could make a difference.

“I wanted to be the voice of what the students were experiencing. I think Clarke County has some really unique challenges. We have a lot of social challenges that we can’t address on the school level. But at the school board level, we can address those challenges to keep kids where they need to be to make CCSD stay at the top,” Hensley said.

Beginning on the school board, she had to adjust to the work.

“I had to really learn how to be a school board member. I never wanted to get into politics. I never wanted to be that person that was kind of in front of the public, shouting what I believed in,” Hensley said.

Since becoming a member of the school board she’s seen some people’s misconceptions about what the school board does. She says her work on the board deals with finances and countywide rules, like policies on phones in schools and student absences. 

“It’s kind of a misconception that the board has this oversight to change little personal things, and we don’t. Our job is to hold the superintendent accountable for what the students want and what the community wants and what’s best for the students,” Hensley said. 

Out of the nine school board members, eight are parents that have children enrolled in Clarke County schools, including Hensley who has six children. These parental perspectives are important when it comes to creating policies inside schools.

“You are the voice of every child in Clarke County. Our job is to make sure that every kid in Clarke County has every opportunity they possibly can get. When you’re a parent you fight for that right — you fight for your kid to have every opportunity they can have to be successful. You have that inside perspective of, ‘This is the opportunity I want for my own kid.’ And that’s what we need to provide for every kid in Clarke County,” Hensley said.

Comparing Clarke County to the school system she grew up in, Hensley has noticed many of the same problems in terms of post-high school prospects.

“It was a cyclical situation where most people in my hometown just stayed where they were and continued to work. Interestingly enough, as I come to Clarke County, the same problems exist, where you do what you know,” Hensley said. 

Grateful for the push her family gave her, Hensley hopes she can provide that for Clarke County students. 

“I had the support of my family saying, ‘You have to go to college.’ So I think when we look at Athens-Clarke County, we, as a district and school board, have to encourage kids to be that model. Push kids to do that as opposed to staying in the cycle of poverty or the cycle of not having higher education,” Hensley said. “I want to be that voice for kids, be it through policy or whatever else, that says, ‘You can go further than what you’ve seen growing up.’”