Page 7 - Mid Valley Times 5-5-22 E-Edition

Thursday, May 5, 2022
RHS ceramics students prepare for sale
The View From Here
I re- member the name of my ceramics teacher in high school. Her name
was Mrs.
Benavides.
I took ce-
ramics dur-
ing my sophomore year of high school and she was one of the nicest teachers I had.
I remember she always wore an apron, maybe be- cause working around so much clay caused her clothes to get dirty and she was trying to avoid that. Her hair was dark brown and her makeup looked nice.
I remembered Mrs. Benavides when I stepped into the classroom of Mr. Hiebert the morning of May 3. His ceramics class brought back so many memories I was there to talk to Reedley High Stu- dents about their upcom- ing ceramics sale. It will be taking place on May 5 and 6. The students I spoke with are all work- ing hard to create unique pieces they help will sell during their sale.
I talked to three stu- dents Daniel Peters, Yesly Flores, and Paola Rangel. Well four students if you count Fernando Vargas. He was busy making a vase while I went over to snap a photo of him.
I remember one thing about ceramics. Using the wheel was tricky. It had to be balanced just right. It was easy enough to do when the piece was forming and the sides were thick. But once the sides thinned out, one wrong move could make it crooked and ruin all the hard work one had done.
I learned today that making ceramics pieces takes patience and meticu- lous attention to detail.
A new term I learned today was the word "kiln" basically the oven used to heat and harden the ce- ramic pieces.
Each student I spoke with and event the ones I didn't talk to were working hard and concentrating on making the perfect pot, vase, cup, plate, to sell for the show and sale.
I hope they do well, again the sale will be held in the Ceramics Lab Courtyard at the Reedley High School Campus on Thursday, May 5 and Fri- day, May 6. It will begin at 3:15 and go until 6:30 p.m. Hope everyone can make it out and support these hard working students.
By Juanita Adame
Mid Valley Times
Students inside the ceram- ics classroom at Reedley High School worked throughout the morning on May 3 in prepara- tion for their Ceramics Show and Sale on Thursday, May 5 and Friday, May 6.
“We’re preparing for a sale so currently, I am just wait- ing for my pieces to come out of the kiln because I can’t do much except for wait,” said Paola Rangel. “I’m just going to throw while I wait.”
Paola is a senior at Reedley High School and has made a number of items.
“I made a lot of things, I made vases, cups, a lot of bowls, strainers, mugs, plates,” she said.
“I don’t struggle with mak- ing them, I struggle with trim- ming because I have a heavy handandItendtomessupmy pieces while I’m trimming,”
A few steps away from Paola was Daniel Peters, also a senior. Peters said waiting for piece can take a few days.
“I made a bunch of cups, I really like making cups and bowls, I also made a few vases and I made a plate the other day so that was my first plate, so I'm looking forward to see- ing that coming out of the kiln,” he said.
“Typically they stay in there for about a day, then they have to cool down, so we don’t usu- ally see them for a few days.”
Peters also said he enjoys the science behind making dif- ferent ceramic pieces.
“In the high temperature kiln, there’s a thing called cones, and you can fire it to different temperatures to get different colors which I think is cool there’s a lot of science behind it which I’m interested in learning more about,” he said. “I’m planning to do this college, too.”
The show and sale will be
Juanita Adame
Sierra Kings Health Care recognizing Mental Health Awareness month
Photo of the Week
Juanita Adame / Mid Valley Times
TOP: Fernando Vargas, a senior at Reedley High School , worked on a ceramics project for the upcoming saleonThursdayMay5and Friday,May6.
BELOW:YeslyFloresworkedonatabletoflattenapieceofclayshewasgoingtousetomakeapottery piece.
taking place in the Ceramics Lab Courtyard on the Reedley High School campus and will run during breaks and lunch for students and staff and will feature a “beautiful display of pottery just in time for Moth- er’s Day,” according to the school’s flyer.
“I have a learned a lot of stuff, I didn’t know a lot about ceramics before but the first time I took this class was my freshmen year,” said Yesly Flores.
“I was able to take the class again this year which is my last year and that’s really exciting for me, one thing I learned is that every piece has to go through two fires.”
For more information on the ceramics show and sale visit kcusd.com or contact the school at (559) 559-305-7100
Contributed
Mental health refers to our emotional, psychological, and social well-being and affects how we think, feel, and act.
Mental health conditions often becomes magnified when faced with overwhelm- ing amounts of life stressors. While we all experience life stressors, according to Mental Health America, 1 in 5 people in the United States live with a related mental health condi- tion.
There are about 40,000 res- idents in the cities of Reedley and Parlier combined and, using the rate of 20 percent, about 8,000 of these residents are believed to suffer from a mental health condition. Though mental health relat- ed conditions are more com- mon than once thought, there remains a glowing negative stigma that causes those af-
fected to suffer in silence. May is Mental Health Awareness Month and Sierra Kings Health Care District is partnering with local agen- cies to highlight mental health awareness and reduce the stigma. As a trusted partner, during the month of May the district is partnering with the city of Reedley to offer a se- ries of free "Stress Reliever" classes. This will include two sessions of yoga, two sessions of tai chi, and a therapeutic
art workshop.
The district also is part-
nering with Kings Canyon Unified School District to help parents manage life stressors with a free workshop present- ed by Gia Kazarian entitled, “The Juggle is Real” at Silas Bartsch Elementary School during May.
Sierra Kings also is ex-
SEE SIERRA on page A8
Contributed
This photo of some girls enjoying the Lil Miss LAVISH "SPAtacular Day at the Lavish Salon in Reedley was sent in by the salon. Have a photo you'd like featured? Email juanita@midvalleypublishing. com