I introduce my metal shop students to a wide variety of design challenges and opportunities. I teach fabrication and casting techniques that provide them with life long benefits because they become skilled tool users and informed consumers.

Fabrication units include: sawing/piercing, hot and cold connections, surface treatments, chain making, and blacksmithing to name a few. Casting units include mold and pattern making in the following materials: plaster, sand, silicone, and wax. Objects the students create can be functional, sculptural or wearable.

Many of my students choose to pursue the creation of a 3-d portfolio for submission to the college board. These students often choose this option after taking a glass, ceramics, or metal shop course.

I encourage my students to create works of art that express their personal interests and visual voices in response to a sustained investigation or inquiry. They are taught to be self reliant artists and understand that lacking access to studio facilities never means lacking the opportunity to create 3-d works of art.

Instruction in my ceramics classes is split fifty-fifty between hand building and wheel throwing. I find that students respond enthusiastically to project prompts that celebrate traditions and ceremonies that their own families practice.

When a student makes a series of bowls on the wheel that they can customize for each person at their holiday table, they understand that they are building upon and participating in family traditions that bring even more richness to their special occasions.