In order to build ceramic skills, students must produce a quantity of work. Students practice to learn a technique, then work on finished products. We have clay, but we're using glazes at a rapid pace! We need to replenish our glazes. Without glaze we can't finish pieces.
Students from all over our city attend this magnet public high school.
They are very bright and engaged. They aren't wealthy but their families support them so they come to our outstanding school. Our student body is a community, too. The students, while diverse, get along and care about each other. This is an amazing and wonderful place. It is one of the top 5 schools in the city. For students' art credits, they sign up for either art, crafts, or ceramics, and take the class daily. This intense course immerses these academically strong students into a creative mode and the result can be awesome! Not only are our students very bright, they turn out to be very creative too. The arts make their school experience even richer. While most will go on to great colleges, they will always hold on to their art experiences. Students are tapping into creativity that they will carry with them the rest of their lives.
My Project
We need glazes to keep up the momentum in ceramics! Each week, 50 students make at least one clay project. Students with a special knack for clay, make even more. With each project, students' skills build. In ceramics, one learns by doing. First we practice a skill, then my students make a finished product. Putting on the brakes to this kind of production & growth is the last thing I want to do. In October, I could tell that at the pace we were going, we'd run out of clay, so we found a way to get clay to last us until June. Our glazes are being used up rapidly. Few glazes remain. A tiny bit is left at the bottom of once full jars. With this grant, I have selected a variety & quantity of glazes to meet my students' needs & my students will grow even more. Students see a work from sketches & practice sessions, to making a clay piece, through its firing & finally glazing & firing their completed work. Each step is a chance to learn. With glazes, I won't have to limit our output in ceramics.
"Mrs. Fitz, did you fire my piece?" I hear that question every day as my students enter ceramics class.
It shows how much my students love working with clay. Your help will provide the glazes my students need so they can complete their pieces. Please help replace the glazes we have used so my students can continue their work, so they can continue learning through ceramics. Working with clay is a great opportunity. Please help provide the glazes we need!
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As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Mrs. Fitzpatrick and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
