November 23rd, 2010

ACES, Empty Bowls Meet for Art & Service

In late October, Green Central School ACES students enjoyed an activity that isn’t usually on the menu for them. The students, along with ACES staff and volunteers, made bowls and mugs for the Empty Bowls event in Minneapolis. The Northern Clay Center generously donated time and materials to teach the students how to create the dishware. Students appreciated the opportunity to participate in an art project, as art is not part of their regular curriculum at Green.

“It’s a unique opportunity for students to work with an instructor from the Northern Clay Center, and it allows them to be creative and express themselves in a new way,” said ACES Green Program Coordinator Emmy Matzner.

The student’s mugs and bowls ranged from simple to complex. One student even created a mug in the shape of a tree, complete with a small owl on one branch.

Empty Bowls is an international effort to fight hunger, and raises money by holding lunches for the community. Volunteers make and donate clay bowls, which are used to serve food at the event. These empty bowls are representative of those who go without daily, and the efforts to put food in the bowls of these people in need.

On November 5, ACES students volunteered at one of those luncheons, at Powderhorn Park in Minneapolis. Guests enjoyed a delicious meal out of a handmade bowl in exchange for a donation. Many of those bowls and mugs were designed by ACES students.

“I like serving soup and seeing all the different people here” said Jenny, an eighth grader at Green.

This is an example of an important part of ACES program: service learning. Events like Empty Bowls allow students to learn in the classroom about a community issue, collaborate methods to work on that issue, and then implement those ideas within a community service project.

Great job ACES Green Central Students!