ELEVATE! Grant: Raku Firing for Ceramics Program
Our ELEVATE! Grant program recently helped spark a powerful collaboration between the ceramics programs at De Soto High School and Mill Valley High School. After Visual Art Teacher Bryan Lloyd Rosell applied for and received an ELEVATE! Grant last fall, students from both schools were able to come together for a shared Raku firing experience.
Ceramics students created and glazed their pieces in their own classrooms, then gathered for a joint firing using a Raku kiln funded through the grant. Working side‑by‑side, they removed red‑hot pottery from the kiln, placed pieces into reduction chambers, and watched the dramatic glaze reactions that make Raku such an engaging process.
The experience strengthened students’ technical skills while also building connection, collaboration, and creative energy across the two high schools. Moments like this are exactly why the Education Foundation invests in innovative classroom opportunities. When teachers dream big, our students benefit in meaningful, lasting ways.
