Leslie A. Bintz is an art teacher for Ponca City Public Schools (PCPS). She was born and raised in Ponca City and graduated from Po-Hi in 1994. She attended Northern Oklahoma College (NOC) and finished her education at University of Central Oklahoma (UCO).

After college, Bintz landed a job at ITN International as a supply teacher in London for about two plus years.

“I was able to hone my craft at 33 different schools as well as learn so much from the diversity of students and schools,” said Bintz.

She then took a job working and training at Montessori School in Las Vegas. Bintz received international Montessori certification for ages three to five. Her mentor was starting a school in the Philippines and invited Bintz to be the assistant principal. However, scheduling sadly made this impossible, and Bintz went on as an itinerant art teacher for the Clark County School District for 5 years.

“I returned to Ponca City in 2010, and I felt lucky to find an art position open in spring 2011,” said Bintz. “Since then, I’ve been fortunate for the variety to work at Woodlands Elementary, Liberty Elementary, Marland Children’s Home, Wildcat Academy, and Teen Pep.”

Bintz describes herself as always having been creative and drawn to the arts from a young age with interests in drawing, painting, sculpting, photography, mural graffiti, jewelry design, interior design, fashion design, theatre, musicals, FX make-up, and graphic novels.

“It just made sense for me to share my passion and knowledge of the arts with others,” said Bintz.

For Bintz, her favorite aspect of the job is her students.

“They always make me laugh, and they always make me proud with how ambitious they are to accomplish any project I throw at them,” said Bintz. “Create a self-portrait with wet spaghetti noodles? Done. Create a 3-D sculpture with cardboard and shaving cream? A piece of cake.”

Bintz’s teaching philosophy holds that anyone is capable of learning to create art.

“We just need to have someone explain or show it to us in a way that makes sense to each one of us. I love using Montessori to teach art. With this method, learning is in the hands of the students. The teacher shows students how to use materials and different styles,” said Bintz. “Then the students are able to learn, explore, and create at their own pace. They learn responsibility and resiliency using this method.”