HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — Jeffrey Spencer likes to connect and communicate through art.

But Spencer is more than just an art teacher.

For three decades, he’s connected and communicated with students through art at Maniscalco K-8 school in Lutz.

Spencer likes to say he has taught students a different way of expressing themselves.

“Every day is different, but every day is the same,” Spencer said. “I’ve been doing the same job for 32-years and it never gets old.  The human factor I feel is what makes every day just magical and completely different than all the days before it.”

Spencer said he always liked being an art teacher, instructing hundreds of students a day from 1^st grade to 8th grade.

“I love to see the joy that they have when they are creating something,” he said. “And when they are expressing themselves, and something that they can be proud of. I love to bring that out of the kids and with the younger kids, everything that you teach them is brand new to them, and you just see their whole faces light up.”

And with a Master’s degree in “mental health counseling,” Spencer has an extraordinary gift of patience and calm which is an amazing ability to reach every child.

 “Just to see him interact with kids whether they be Gen-Ed kids, Exceptional Education students, our most challenging students sometimes, he just always has the patience of a saint,” said Maniscalco Principal Tammy Reale. “He’s able to de-escalate and take them to their happy place.”

Happiness for Spencer is helping kids grow and helping them to learn how to express themselves creatively.

“I love art. I love making art,” he said. “I love facilitating students learning about art, and having that in their toolbox for the rest of their lives.”