Teacher, parents inspire Randolph High School artist

The artwork of Randolph High School student Abby Stoffel has been selected as the best in an annual Fiesta art competition.

Stoffel, a junior at Randolph High School, won first prize in the 2016 Battle of Flowers Association Band Festival Cover Contest Art Show, which included 450 entries from San Antonio area schools. Her winning drawing was displayed at a reception hosted by the Battle of Flowers Association April 10 at the San Antonio Garden Center and on the front cover of the program for the 78th annual Battle of the Flowers Band Festival April 21 at Alamo Stadium.

In addition, on April 22, Stoffel got to ride in the Battle of Flowers Parade.

This is the second time that Stoffel’s artwork has won first place at the Band Festival Cover Contest Art Show. Stoffel’s artwork was also judged the best in last year’s contest.

Stoffel said her parents, Rick, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel, and Donna Stoffel have supported her artistic endeavors.

“They’ve given me good comments and encouraged me a lot,” Stoffel said. “They have definitely made me feel good about it.”

Stoffel said her parents have bought her art supplies and took her on a trip to Seattle last year to tour an art college she is considering attending after she graduates from high school next year.

Donna Stoffel said she noticed at an early age that her daughter had a creative side.

“As a toddler, I could put her in the high chair and put paints on her tray,” Donna Stoffel said. “If I put a little dab of paint or even pudding on the tray, she would finger paint that tray all day long if you let her. She would had a very extended attention span with it. I was always amazed how productive, patient and quiet she could be for the time period she was sitting with the paints.”

Rick Stoffel said he and his wife support their daughter’s artistic activities because it’s something she loves to do and a field she is considering a career in.

Stoffel said her career goals are to become a high school art teacher and possibly work at an animation company.

“I think we are both huge proponents of working with something you love doing,” Rick Stoffel said. “If she can continue to use art as a career, that’s even better.”

Stoffel said her interest in art was sparked by Linda Heier, her fifth grade art teacher at Randolph Elementary School.

“She got me into it and made it fun for me,” Stoffel said. “She encouraged us a lot and made us feel good about art.”

Sarah Spano, Stoffel’s art teacher at Randolph High School, said Stoffel is a gifted art student.

“She is open to discussing her artwork with me,” Spano said. “She is coachable. If there is something I point out, she understands what I’m talking about. A lot of the things she does that I have to teach to certain kids comes natural for her.”

Spano said the judges of the Band Festival Cover Contest Art Show liked Stoffel’s drawing because it incorporated several criteria they wanted, including musical notes representing the band festival and Texas symbols that included a yellow rose, boots, a cowboy riding a horse with a Texas flag, bluebonnets, a longhorn and a dancer.

At Randolph High School, Stoffel is a member of the National Honor Society, the Spanish National Honor Society, the art club and an ‘A’ honor roll student. Her art club activities include doing face painting at the Randolph Elementary School fall festival and painting small murals for teachers to place above their classroom doors. In addition, she developed a logo for a grant awarded to the Randolph Field Independent School District.

“Abby has grown from a very shy, quiet girl in eighth grade,” said Spano, who has known and taught Stoffel for four years. “She’s always in the back of the room making her classmates laugh; she’s come out of her shell. I feel like she’s grown quite a bite.”