CCHS ceramics class prospering thanks to Coachella Valley Spotlight Grant

Each month, we bring you coverage of the Coachella Valley Spotlight Grant. This month we take a look back at a former recipient, Cathedral City High School.

The ceramics class at CCHS was awarded the $25,000 grant in September 2018 and used it to purchase a new, energy efficient kiln. The class’ old kiln was twenty-five years old, old enough for Harmony Castro’s father to have used. Castro’s father was in the first graduating class of cathedral city high school.

“He was one of the first students to have his pieces in that old kiln and now I got to be one of the first students to have my kiln in the new one,” Harmony said.

The kiln has increased the quality of student projects, like Sydney Van Horn’s teapot. We first saw her working on it when the class was first awarded the grant

Display cases, panels, podiums and acrylic covers for the student art gallery have also been purchased since then.

“When I see my pieces in the art display I’m very proud and happy about it. It just makes me super excited,” Sydney said.

Sydney will receive the Golden Lion Medallion for ceramics this year. She was nominated by visual and performing arts department chair Nan Burlingame who teaches ceramics.

“For a growing program to replace a lot of this equipment it takes extra help and so this was very important for us to be able to do that,” Burlingame said.

High-temperature electrical wire was also purchased to replace old wiring in a second kiln.

Burlingame also bought more watercolor paints for her classes to use. All improvements made thanks to the Coachella Valley Spotlight Grant.