Maria Gatto, an art teacher at Northlake Christian School, is completing her second year at  Northlake. Although many factors contribute to Gatto’s addition to the Northlake faculty, she recognizes God as her number one reason.

For many teachers at Northlake, the reason they came to school is because of God’s working in their life. For Gatto, this call took longer than expected.

Gatto applied to Northlake after feeling God’s call to teach.

“I applied to work at Northlake a year and a half before I was actually hired because they just simply did not have a placement for me. I was a little bummed out, but I understood. So I got a job working somewhere else and just kept praying that if it’s meant to be, then the Lord will work it out, in His timing,” said Gatto.

After applying, she patiently waited a year and a half to be accepted. It was a long wait, however looking back at it now, Gatto found God’s timing to be perfect.

“It worked out perfectly,” said Gatto. “Right before I was called for an interview, I had come to a mindset that whatever God’s will was, then I was fine with that, whether that was teaching at Northlake or working somewhere. So with that mindset, the timing couldn’t have worked any better because I was in a position to submit to whatever God had for me.”

One reason Gatto enjoys teaching art is because she has the freedom to explore many art forms. She also found helping students discover their own artistic abilities to be a rewarding experience.

“It is always changing, and it is never the same thing each day. It is also really cool seeing all the different levels that come out of the students, which is very rewarding,” says Gatto.

Since art is a tool that was given to Gatto by God, she uses it to minister to the students through teaching and showing them the beautiful creation of God through her magnificent pieces of art.

“[Art] is my calling, not only to teach art, but being able to connect with the students through the creativity,” said Gatto.

Through teaching four high school classes, and two middle school classes, she is able to connect with alot of students in a way that brings them close to God.

Gatto’s high school classes help students to learn art, but also teaches students lessons they will need to know once they graduate and move on to the next chapter in their life. She is one of many teachers who were led to Northlake and try to make a lasting difference through their subject.