@NipRockArt

I wish I could speak as eloquently as Neil Gaiman.  I can't, but I can certainly share his thoughts because I want my students to hear them:

I.S.S. The Lip Dub from shareski on Vimeo . #NipRockArt students have made their mark!   Dean Shareski recently invited some schools to take part in a project that he created .  We were thrilled to have the chance to participate.  Our Principal, Donna Fry, wrote about it too: " Collaboration: We've Arrived! "  Today, she tweeted the link to Commander Hadfield, who watched the video and tweeted back!  See the story here:  " Out of This World ".  Isn't it amazing to see the wonderful connections and creations that can be made by working together? Listen to #niprockart student Hanna Dahl and our Principal, Donna Fry on CBC Voyage North: Source: http://www.cbc.ca/voyagenorth/2013/04/12/space-station-shout-out-for-nipigon-red-rock-hs/index.html Hanna & Mrs. Fry getting ready for their interview... Well done, everyone!! [ View the story "Out of This World" on Storify ]

The grade 11 and 12 art students tackled some pretty tough material:  clay.  ...and not just any clay: OLD CLAY.  Over the years, our collection of 'bits & pieces' of dried clay has accumulated, so Mrs. Rose made the decision to do a bit of recycling.  The process was labour-intensive, but the students learned quite a bit about the plight of real potters (who would need to recycle their own clay). After the dry clay was broken into little bits and soaked overnight, we began the process of straining, drying and kneading the clay until it became workable.  This sounds rather easy, but we had to be quite diligent to produce enough clay for the class!  (it smelled pretty bad too) The class then began forming their mugs, which could be made using one of many techniques: coil method  slab technique working on the potter's wheel subtractive method The nice thing about making mugs is having the opportunity to discuss...