About the teacher!
There are many unique and various electives a student can choose to participate in at Saugus High School. One amazing class is Ceramics, taught by Mr. Stuart. Mr. Stuart has been teaching ceramics since the middle of the school year in January of 2019, 5 ½ years. Mr. Stuart explained, “College is what got me interested in ceramics. I majored in Fine Arts and started out taking printmaking classes, but wasn’t really connected with it so I tried ceramics and almost immediately knew it was for me. I think just the overall vibe and process was what connected me more with it compared to printmaking. The sense of community, collaboration, and attitude was a better fit for me. My art teachers at Canyon High School are the ones who inspired me. I just thought they were so cool and had the best job making and encouraging artistic expression.”
Classroom
The ways that Mr. Stuart helps out his student and through Google Classroom comments, Self and Teacher Evaluations, student and teacher Feedback, and more. He is always very open and an incredibly easy Teacher to talk to. He is always there for his students and will help them out until the student gets their question down. One of the biggest things he wants his student to understand after being in his class is “[h]ow important is it for students to create and find their artistic spirit.” Some days that Mr. Stuart ensures that all students are participating in class is by creating an environment where creativity and student choice is encouraged. Since ceramics is an art class, there is a lot of creativity that has to go into it, which means students also have to learn how to stayed calm in hard times. He also makes sure every student gets picks on throught the year by using popsicle sticks. Many teachers use many different teaching methods. In ceramics, Mr. Stuart uses blended leaning, virtual and in person, gallery walks, like rotating tables, gets students up and walking around. One way he personalizes learning by connecting lessons to students cultural backgrounds and interests. To promote creativity and self-expression, Mr. stuart creates project based lessons that encourage students to brainstorm and sketch out ideas that are both unique and meaningful. When asking Mr. Stuart what academic standards he uses, this is what he had to say: “Creating—Anchor Standard 1: Generate and Conceptualize Artistic Ideas and Work
Creating—Anchor Standard 2: Organize and Develop Artistic Ideas and Work
Creating—Anchor Standard 3: Refine and Complete Artistic Work
Performing—Anchor Standard 5: Develop and Refine Artistic Techniques and Work for Presentation
Responding—Anchor Standard 8: Interpret Intent and Meaning in Artistic Work
Responding—Anchor Standard 9: Apply Criteria to Evaluate Artistic Work.” After asking what his favorite projects are, how long it took to complete, and if the students enjoyed the projects, he said, “Teapots are usually the most popular project because of their functionality and history surrounding tea consumption amongst different cultures.” Is it hard to manage all the clay? After all it is a ceramics class that gets messy really fast. “Yes, its hard to manage the clay, but organization is key! The more structure there is, the better things flow in the studio.” A kiln, by google definition, is a thermally insulated chamber that can be heated to high temperature for drying, burning, or firing materials such as pottery, glass, metals, and ceramics. If a piece is not let out to dry for the proper amount of time or is too thick, then it can cause the piece to burst and break in the kiln, which may cause surrounding pieces to shatter aswell. So, what do you do when pieces break in the kiln? According to Mr. Stuart, “It’s pretty rare for projects to blow up in the kiln so it doesn’t happen often. But if it does happen, I just excuse the student from the project. As far as the construction, it needs to be sound so it doesn’t break. Also keeping it out of harm’s way will prevent any mishaps from either yourself or other students. Ceramics can be unforgiving so it’s best to sometimes let go of projects that can’t be remedied and be patient when starting over.”
Cramics is a very fun and unique class that we are able to have at Saugua High School, and should be something every student gets to experience atleast once. Its a very calming but self improving class, gets people to know themselves better, and gets people to manage their instinct better too.
