By William Croyle
Enquirer contributor

COVINGTON - Warner Allen grew up in poverty. His parents died when he was 15.

If it weren't for Crickette Todd, he said, he has no idea where he would be today.

"She protected me and took me under her wing," said Allen, 25, who works in child advocacy for the Covington Independent School District, which dismisses students for the year today.

Todd, 58, informed superintendent Jack Moreland in April that after 30 years of supervising, teaching and planning, it was time to retire.

"The district needs my salary more than I do," said Todd, who is retiring next month as the district's director of fine arts and humanities. "It's been 30 years, and it's been wonderful. There hasn't been a typical week. No two years have been alike."

Todd started teaching Allen when he was in the third grade at 1st District Elementary School (now Two Rivers Middle School). Allen said Todd used to take him to her house and teach him gardening and landscaping. He spent his summers working odd jobs for her and her husband, Tom, and has never lost touch with them.

"She truly impacted my life. I'm still in denial that she's leaving," said Allen.

Todd began teaching art in 1967 in the Cincinnati Public Schools system. At the same time, she conducted workshops for teachers to share and promote art ideas for the classroom.

After five years in Cincinnati, she interviewed for a job in the Covington district.

"After the interview, I ran across the street to a pay phone and called my husband. I said, 'You're talking to the new supervisor for art for all Covington schools,' " Todd said. "He said, 'Don't you want to talk about it first?' I said, 'No, I already signed the contract.' "

There were no art teachers in the district in 1973. Todd's job was to teach visual art in every classroom at all 11 schools and conduct art workshops for the elementary school teachers.

"It was just me, my car, and my green bag that I kept my supplies in," she said. "My goal was to get an art teacher in every school, and I can now say I've done that."

Todd is also the director of the Nordheim Gallery, a professional art gallery at Holmes High School that holds art shows each month.

Over the last three decades - along with her art duties - she has been director of public relations, director of professional development, events planner and director of the district's mentoring program (where new teachers seeking certification are mentored by veteran teachers).

She also helped establish the humanities side of her job title, teaching music and generating funds to benefit the theater program.

Todd has worked for nine different superintendents in the district during her tenure.

"Crickette is kind of a throwback. She loves kids, and that's the only reason she got into teaching," Moreland said.

Moreland said Todd's duties will be spread throughout the district.

"Her talents were so varied that we can't find one person with that level of expertise," he said.

Todd earned a bachelor's degree in fine arts, a master's degree in art education and a doctorate in educational administration.

It took her 10 years to obtain her doctorate, which she earned in 1998. She traveled to the University of Kentucky two nights a week for classes, then spent six years working on her 262-page dissertation.

Todd and her husband recently moved from Cincinnati to Hebron. Her art studio in their new home overlooks the Ohio River, which she will use as a backdrop for paintings that she is working on for Tall Stacks this fall.

She plans on becoming a full-time artist, focusing on nature, abstract, and multicultural paintings that she can sell to interior decorators.

She said she feels very comfortable that she's leaving behind a strong arts program for the district.

"What the kids can't get in academics they'll get in culture," she said. "I hope that'll be my legacy.''

E-mail williamcroyle@yahoo.com