Ceramics at GPHS is still alive! More than one person thought we were gone but, au contraire mon frère, that rumor is squished. We’re back in room 302 where many former students will remember having worked through planning and building their pinch, coil, and slab pots for so many years. More great studio work is coming with a deliberate blending of traditional pottery techniques, interdisciplinary exploration, and expanding opportunities with clay; all in a climate of proficiency based performance and changing content standards. In Ceramics, we are serious about creating high quality art, honing our problem solving skills (often overlooked as critical to producing fine arts), and applying content knowledge through this historically beautiful art material.

Student enthusiasm is strong this semester with continuing and returning students alike. Though many projects are familiar to our Exploratory, Intermediate, and Advanced students, several new focus options for Advanced students specifically are getting attention. These options include throwing techniques on a pottery wheel, kiln management, and conducting a glaze study. We’re also starting a Ceramics Club that is open to all GPHS students. Some of the first projects for the Club are building (and firing) a raku kiln and selling handmade ceramic products at the Holiday Bazaar. If you’ve got a specialty item in mind, don’t hesitate to contact us. With daily studio time for the Ceramics Club, we anticipate a healthy response.

We want our Ceramics program to be an integral piece of a complete educational experience. By demonstrating the cross-curricular benefits of Ceramics as a forum for developing real world problem solving skills, we refine our ceramic arts instruction while promoting student participation in our science, business, and math courses. We already have two guest speakers lined up to support this initiative and will be recruiting others. One of our GPHS Earth Science teachers will be connecting us to minerals, chemistry, and more. Also, a local ceramic business is excited about sharing their story and how making art as a business really happens. Yes, our wheels are turning…