This project is a part of the Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month celebration because
it supports a Latino teacher or a school where the majority of students are Latino.
The students in my ceramics classes are mostly beginners, learning the basic methods of handbuilding...pinch, coil and slab. My small advanced group of 8 students, are creating larger, more complex pieces, and they are the ones needing more supplies to finish up the years assignments.
The students range in age from 9th grade to 12th but the advanced group are entirely 11th -12th graders.
They all demonstrate focused and responsible work habits in completing their complex and innovative hand built pieces. They even come in during lunch time or after school, of their own accord, when necessary. The school is a Title 1 school, and virtually all the students come from low income families. Many of them come to me not having experienced any type of hands on art , and especially not ceramics. They are very appreciative of this new creative adventure. But we have very large classes and quite often run out of the money that is assigned to this subject.
My Project
The students learn the complex skill of glazing. They discover how the colors change during the firing. It takes a little while to learn how to apply the glaze correctly, so that their pieces will not appear uneven in color. They brush on the glazes, and so much patience and care is needed. The advanced students learn about underglazes too, which can be applied to unfired ware, and then they apply clear glaze after the first fire which at that point is even more important to brush it on evenly or the piece can be ruined.
These glazes that I am requesting will help the students to be able to complete their ceramics assignments with everything they need.
It will give them the total satisfaction of working on their pieces from start to finish and being provided with the proper materials that are necessary. We do not want to "make do" with what is left, but to be able to give them the highest chance of doing their best work, especially those who are graduating and may not have the opportunity to do ceramics again.
DonorsChoose is the most trusted classroom funding site for teachers.
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. Fox-Venti and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
