NBHS student leader, Giada (11th Grade), assists adults with wheel throwing at the final session of the Community Pottery Workshops.
The 2023 Empty Bowls fundraiser had many hands involved in this community-led project! The event will be held on Tuesday, February 21, 2023 from 5:00-7:30 pm in the New Buffalo High School cafeteria. For a $10.00 donation to the Blessings in a Backpack organization, community members can enjoy a soup dinner and take home a ceramic bowl as supplies last. All proceeds benefit local students in need from New Buffalo Elementary School.
The Empty Bowls dinner has been a New Buffalo tradition for more than ten years organized by teachers Amy Quick and Beth Scoggin with the NBHS Student Senate. The soups and desserts are being prepared by New Buffalo Area Schools staff members and the high school students of Nicole Bowen's 3rd Period Foods and Nutrition class.
The 25 students of NBHS Pottery Club have been volunteering their time and effort by creating bowls in after school workshops since the beginning of the school year along with the student leaders who assisted with the monthly Community Pottery Workshops for adults who learned how to create bowls donated for the Empty Bowls fundraiser. The making of this project had many steps in the pottery process with an overwhelming amount of love and support from our New Buffalo community!
1. The New Buffalo Arts Council approved a grant proposal to cover ceramic supply costs used for the Community Pottery Workshops assisted by the Pottery Club. The workshops were advertised in the Harbour County News, New Buffalo Times, NBHS Bison Bits, and the New Buffalo Fine Arts Department Facebook page for 6 community members per session to learn pottery free of charge in 4 monthly workshops held in the NBHS art room. The workshops were limited to the first 24 people who responded and the sessions were booked within one week of advertising with a waitlist of 13 people.
2. Glaze Test Tiles: Pottery Club began by creating texture tiles to test the colors of the ceramic glaze supply.
3. Wedging Balls of Clay: Students from Pottery Club pre-wedged balls of clay for each Community Workshop so that the adults could get started right away on the pottery wheels in their evening sessions.
4. Hand-building bowls with the Pinch Pot method at the Community Workshops.
Student leaders Camille (12th Grade), Giada (11th Grade), and Aaron (9th Grade) worked side-by-side with adults to demonstrate the correct method for pinching a bowl from a ball of clay. Student Teachers got to teach their parents as participants in some cases–amazing to see!
4. Wheel-throwing at the Community Workshops.
Community members rotated between pinching a hand-built bowl and learning to throw a bowl on the wheel. The adults received one-on-one instruction led by myself and my Pottery students who guided 4 beginners at a time through each step of the throwing process to achieve a successful bowl for each workshop participant.
Session #1 October:
Session #2 November:
Session #3 December:
Session #4 January:
Students became mentors to adults with the responsibility of teaching and handling bowls in-progress that were not their own. Community members experienced a day in the art classroom with increased visibility and relationship building with students!
5. Trimming: Pottery Club students earned community service hours after school by handling community members' bowls from the workshops with the finishing touches of trimming and smoothing in preparation for the bisque firing.
6. Pottery Club students also contributed their own individual bowls for the Empty Bowls fundraiser at club workshops after school.
Our P.E. teacher, Natalie Walter, attended an after school club session where student leaders were given an opportunity to practice teaching Ms Walter how to throw a bowl before the next Community Pottery Workshop.
7. Bisque Firing: Each group of bowls needed approximately 10-12 days after they were created to completely dry out before they could be fired. When each batch of bowls came out of the kiln, Pottery Club members sanded them down for the adults to glaze when they returned for the next session.
8. Glazing: Adults attended a second workshop the following month so that they could brush on the colors on the bowls they made. Student leaders Camille (12th), Madison (9th), and Aaron (9th) ran the glazing station by individually washing brushes and pouring glaze for adults while demonstrating the correct techniques of layering 2 coats of glaze to prepare a sealed coat of glass for food-safe bowls.
Pottery Club students also glazed several bowls for community members who were not able to attend a second session.
9. Glaze Firing: The bowls were created in waves throughout the year as each batch of donations went through the pottery process. Community members and Pottery Club students donated hours of love and creativity into the finished bowls that will be available for the public at the Empty Bowls event next week.
10. Pottery Club students volunteered at the Concessions Stand this week to support the Bison Athletics Department and help spread the word about Empty Bowls!
We are so grateful to our Pottery Club students, Student Senate volunteers, Foods and Nutrition students, NB staff members, and the love and support from our Bison community members who contributed to an amazing cause. Bring a friend and enjoy a bowl of soup at the Empty Bowls fundraiser!
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