Teachers "hard" at play
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- Last Updated: Thursday, 19 June 2014 19:43
What could be more fun than playing in clay all day? Being able to create designs with unique glazes as well, all while earning continuing professional education units!
That’s just what 51 Columbus City School’s (Ohio) art teachers did May 12 at Mayco’s Hilliard, Ohio manufacturing facility.
What might look like a fun day of “being a kid again” to most people was serious business for these pre-school to high school teachers. From hand-building unique vessels with clay and sprig, continuous design, and press molds, to learning to throw a pot on the wheel and unique glazing techniques, each teacher came away with a different perspective on how to incorporate these techniques in their classroom.
Kristin Inkrott, art teacher at Northtowne and South Elementary Schools, doesn’t have access to some of the materials used at the workshop but says, “I can see how I can incorporate using other materials [like stencils and acrylics] onto other shapes, in place of the paper painting and stamping on tiles that we did today.”
While using some of our bug and African themed press tools and sprig molds, as well as our continuous design press tools, to create unique vessels and pots, the teachers had time to reflect on merging these tools into their historical or scientific context through art.
Marion-Franklin Drawing Teacher Frankii Fleming, who has students create drawings and then create 3-D reliefs from the drawings, says of the press tools, “Any kid can use them.” She’s even considering incorporating them into her reliefs.
On the wheel the gamut ran from those who never had thrown a pot before, to teachers who’d been creating pottery for over 35 years. One teacher said the time spent at Mayco helped him overcome his fear of creating pottery. While he now finds it fun and is looking forward to future experiences, he now understands the anxiety kids go through when facing the wheel for the first time.
Even long-time potter and retiring Independence High School art teacher Alan Jones, whose work has been featured in the Smithsonian and several arts festivals, learned a thing or two. In the past he stayed in the medium he was good at – pottery – and avoided hand-building items. He’d never made a glazed tile before and found through the hand-building and glazing exercises a great way to add texture and design is through the use of stamps. He plans on incorporating this into his work in the near future.
While some of the projects may not be new ones for all of these teachers, all of them took away the knowledge of what it’s like to be on the other side of teaching. Through Mayco teachers Marcia Roullard (hand building), Bob Moreni (glazing) and Lisa Bare Culp and Meghan Howard (wheel), the art teachers experienced overcoming their fears, thinking outside the box, and the joy of creating like a kid again. All in a fun “day at work.”