Creating Ceramics: Supporting English Language Learners in Art
Help me give my students a ceramics program with a kiln and the furniture to go inside.
$6,518 goal
This project expired on September 20, 2025.
This project expired on September 20, 2025.
Celebrating Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month
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.
My Project
Welcome to the art room- A public high school in the neighborhood of Bushwick in Brooklyn, NY. We are raising money to purchase a kiln to support our growing ceramics program. My name is Chelsea Powell I have been the art teacher at AEL for three years. In my time here at AEL, I have made a beautiful discovery about the power of clay to reach beyond language barriers.
Ceramics can change lives.
63% of the students at AEL are English language learners, with many of them speaking little to no English. The ceramics project I introduced to my intro-level studio classes has been transformative in the understanding of art concepts and the confidence my students gain from being able to work with something tactile. I have watched students otherwise checked out be able to form a true connection to the process of clay.
I currently have my studio classes complete a clay project that I will pack up and drive to a community studio and pay out of pocket to fire. This, unfortunately, leads to some very fragile pieces that can break in the commute. I would absolutely love to purchase a kiln to grow our ceramics program with additional Ceramics classes. These classes benefit every student as working with ceramics is generally a calming meditative practice that my students really look forward to daily.
Having this kiln would not just allow us to fire more pieces more often, but be able to support every student at AEL by creating a ceramics class geared to what will support them most.
Nearly all students from low‑income households
Data about students' economic need comes from the National Center for Education Statistics, via our partners at MDR Education. Learn more
150 students impacted
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