by Emily O. and Andrew L.
Mountain Range High School has a tradition here every year in January when the Ceramics classes make bowls and sell them, donating the proceeds to the less fortunate in the community. The talented Ceramics teachers who are doing this are Ms. Dowling and Mr. Chemness. This first started in 2007 when Ms. Dowling and her students decided to start it to support the Food Bank of the Rockies. Ms. Dowling thought of this as a way to help others and also believes it to be a way to bring her students and staff members closer together.
With Empty Bowls in its fifteenth year, Ms. Dowling said her favorite thing about this is being able to see her students' creations and how close they get doing so. Though “the most important thing about this all is knowing in the end that the students are the ones being able to help out the community.” This year they are had over 250 participants. Out of those 250 people, 140 of them are Ceramic 1 students. Ceramics 1 is the only class that does Empty Bowls. Phoenix, a sophomore and Angel, a junior here are two Ceramic 1 students who are helping out with the making process. They both said that it can take up to 1 to 2 weeks, it depends on how you want it to look and just in general how long it will take to form. You also are not obligated to make just ONE bowl, you can make up to as much as you want just as long as you have the time. These empty bowls are also made for the Chili contest our staff members have.
As we are starting to register for the new classes for the upcoming year of 2023-24. If this happened to intrigued you in the slightest way, or thought this might be cool to try out, you should give Ceramics 1 a thought. Even if you aren’t so artistic, consider giving it a try next year.