Shadow Ridge High School’s Advanced Ceramics students are participating in a unique, hands on art collaboration that connects them with much younger artists through the XD Ceramics Project, led by ceramics teacher Mrs. Brackney.

The project begins early in the school year when Shadow Ridge students visit Kitty Ward Elementary to meet kindergarteners. Together, they read a story about monsters and begin the creative process.

“We go to Kitty Ward at the beginning of the school year, meet the kindergartners, read a book about monsters, and then they design a monster on paper,” Mrs. Brackney explained.

After the visit, the kindergarteners’ drawings are brought back to Shadow Ridge, where Advanced Ceramics students take on the role of artists working for a client.

“My Advanced Ceramics kids sculpt the kindergarteners’ drawings,” Mrs. Brackney said. “Then we go back to the school in April for a gallery walk, and the kids get to keep the monsters they designed.”

Throughout the year, the two schools continue to exchange artwork and messages.

“We do back and forth pen pal stuff,” she said. “One month we send something, the next month they send something, and we keep doing that until we go back.”

Beyond creativity, the project teaches valuable real-world skills. According to Mrs. Brackney, one of the most important lessons is learning how to work with a client.

“It’s about taking direction from someone who may not always know how to get their ideas across,” she said. “My students have to meet the expectations of a client’s drawing, which is really hard.”

Students also face artistic challenges when translating simple drawings into clay.

“Trying to get kindergarten designs into a way that works with clay is difficult,” Mrs. Brackney explained. “We use multimedia like wire and other materials to help get the vision across.”

The collaboration benefits both age groups by building community and excitement around art.

“They just love their partner and building that relationship,” she said. “The kindergartners also come here, do rotations, and get to see what high school is like.”

Mrs. Brackney believes projects like this are essential to art education.

“It’s outside of the box,” she said. “It requires higher-level thinking to take something 2D and turn it into 3D. What they come up with is always creative and open.”

Through creativity, collaboration, and community, the XD Ceramics Project gives Shadow Ridge students a meaningful artistic experience while inspiring the next generation of young artists.