On Wednesday April 22, the Ceramics II, III, and art classes took a field trip to Kitty Ward Elementary School, where they gifted the kindergarteners each a ceramic monster they designed earlier in the year. 

Ceramics teacher Andrea Brackney states, ¨I want to create a community between our kinders and high schoolers.  I think it is important that we partner with our feeder schools.  It is more important now than ever since the budget cuts across the district.  Many schools are cutting their art programs and that is really sad.¨

At the beginning of the school year each student was paired with a kindergartner and they read a funny story about monsters. The kindergartener is then asked to draw their own monsters, and their assigned big kid takes the drawing into the studio and sculpts it out of clay.

Once the sculptures were complete, the high school students took a trip to the kindergarten classrooms to deliver the finished monsters. This moment  was the most rewarding part of the project, as the younger students saw their drawings turned into real objects.

Brackney was first influenced to do this project after finding out one of her coworkers does very similar projects with plushies and first graders. Brackney loved the idea so much she decided to do her own version with clay at Kitty Ward.

One of the most important aspects of this project is the bond the high schooler creates with their kindergartner. Throughout the year the two students are able to give each other small gifts, and even write each other little notes.

Ceramics student Chensie Hoge states, ¨I was super excited to go on this field trip because I love spending time with my cute little kindergartner. She really taught me to have patience as I had to understand they are young and learning as well.¨

This project also helped the high schoolers expand their artistic range as they are used to creating pieces they love, rather than creating something someone else will value.

Hoge states, ¨This project was a bit of a challenge because I couldn’t just go with the flow instead I had to be strict and try to get as close to the drawing as I could.¨

Projects like this show that art can go beyond the classroom. It can connect people, build confidence, and turn simple ideas into something meaningful. For these students what started as a drawing on paper became a shared experience they will carry with them for life.