“Due to a confluence of circumstances, I was able to choose the high school in the system where I would teach. I chose ECHS because it seemed that the arts department had been left behind. There were no materials, the stage was stacked with storage, and the sound system didn’t work. I started writing grants to get things going.

Arts is a graduation requirement, and students can choose from band, chorus, dance, theatre or visual arts. There was no band or chorus teacher for a while, the dance program is wonderful, but guys don’t often want to do it, and theatre isn’t for everyone. So, the visual arts classes, including ceramics, filled up, and I wanted to make it a great experience.

The most recent grant I got from BEMC purchased a pug mill that helps us recycle clay. With ceramics, you try, mess up, throw the clay in a bucket, and repeat. A student can go through 20 pounds of clay in a class, and recycling by hand is a labor intensive process that takes several days and involves turning it back into sediment, pouring the water off the top, letting it evaporate until it thickens, then kneading it until it hardens enough to be malleable. The pug mill reduces the process to less than 30 minutes, and the quality is consistently good.

Getting kids involved in art makes their engagement with school stronger; they look forward to coming to school to work on their projects, and the success they experience and the confidence they feel can be tremendous. Watching someone throw and throw, and all of a sudden they’ve made something they love, and they’re dancing around the room – it’s wonderful to see. And it’s always a great day when we’ve fired their work, and it’s time to open the kiln. It’s so much fun to watch their faces light up when they see what their finished pieces look like.

And the impact can be long lasting. One student was in band, and we lost the teacher, so she came into ceramics. She loved it, worked really hard, was in the ceramics room every spare moment she had, and began selling and displaying pieces. Now she’s going to UNC-Charlotte studying architecture, incorporating what she learned in ceramics, and is in the process of reviving their ceramics club. A little opportunity and inspiration can go a long way.