OHS art teacher Tiffany Hershfelt is making an impact not only on her students, but in the community. Hershfelt’s ceramics classes have been participating in touching projects
recently. This month they made and donated bowls to the Oxford Food Pantry Fundraiser luncheon.
“This is our first time participating in this fundraiser,” Hershfelt said. “To my understanding, people can make donations by purchasing a ticket. This ticket then lets them choose a ceramic bowl made by a local artist.”
The students put a great deal of work into these bowls including designing, bisk firing, glazing, and glaze firing them.
“It takes several weeks for them to be made but it is definitely worth the wait,” Hershfelt said. “A lot of heart is put into each piece.”
Hershfelt’s constant encouragement and guidance tremendously impacted the students throughout this project.
“Mrs. Hershfelt expanded my creativity and has helped me improve my patience,” ceramics student Kamari Jones said. “She is a very helpful and caring teacher.”
Not only are students growing their abilities in ceramics, they are getting to give back.
“It was a warming experience giving back to the community thinking that it could possibly be helping others,” Jones said. “It helped me grow to understand that even the slightest actions can help or make someone feel good.”
In addition to contributing to this fundraiser, at the end of last semester Hershfelt’s ceramics classes made gingerbread houses for some of the elementary students.
“We worked with Della Elementary and Central Elementary and I sent the gifted arts teacher basically a blank template of a house and those elementary students then designed a gingerbread house,” Hershfelt said. “I got those drawings back and my students got to randomly select a design and then they brought that design to life in clay.”
The gingerbread houses were an imaginative and challenging task.
“When you think of gingerbread houses you think of a pretty standard design with candy and things,” Hershfelt said. “But some of these designs were creative in ways not even I could imagine.”
Making the houses was not easy, but it was a memorable experience.
“There was a lot of hard work put into making these houses,” former ceramics student Rachel Robinson said. “My favorite part of making the gingerbread house was definitely adding all of the decorations the kids asked for.”
Knowing that the houses were going to someone else, specifically someone younger was more than enough motivation.
“I enjoyed being able to make them for younger kids,” Robinson said. “I had a lot of fun in the process of making them.”
Once the gingerbread houses were built and bisque fired they were delivered to the students with the option to paint them at home.
“It was very heartwarming seeing the kids receive their gingerbread house,” Robinson said. “They were very happy seeing that we completed their dream gingerbread house.”
Some of the things Hershfelt is involved in outside of school include making flowers for services and holidays at her church, freelance art, volunteer work, and is a group leader for Education First Tours.
“I think travel is one of the best ways to learn, grow, and experience all of the amazing wonders that life has to offer,” Hershfelt said. “It expands your understanding of the world and keeps curiosity for learning alive.”
Hershfelt is very passionate about all that she does and is excited to see what the future holds.
“I feel like it’s all just the beginning so I’m excited to see how I can get more involved,” Hershfelt said. “It really all comes back to my students, if I can find somewhere I can fit into this community I want to involve the kids.”
