August 2017

Esther Augsburger established the arts program at EMHS in 1971 and taught art at the school for the next nine years. During her teaching years Esther earned a Master’s in Sculpture from James Madison University in 1979. Esther has long supported the arts program at EMS, often helping and encouraging Barbara Gautcher’s work at the…

When asked about her 32 years teaching art at EMS, Barbara Gautcher responded by saying that “God is faithful.” In the mid-1980s, former EMS guidance counselor Michael Shenk casually asked Barbara’s father if he knew of anyone who could teach art. When Reynold Simmons told Michael that his daughter Barbara was looking for a teaching…