For Some Students, Summer Days Are Best Spent With Clay

By Jeff White

Their hands were a little dirty this week, but that was just the way they liked it.

Five elementary school students let their creativity run wild at “Adventures in Sculpting,” a “Summer Short” program sponsored by Newtown Adult and Continuing Education.

“I’m learning a bunch of new techniques,” boasted Stephen Gumbrecht, a Head O’ Meadow School fourth grader. “I’ve always loved sculpting, but I’ve been learning a lot of great new techniques this week.”

The program, which was held in one of Head O’ Meadow School’s art rooms, taught some of the basics in sculpting and drying clay. Other than that, however, students were free to sculpt pretty much anything they wanted.

Jenny Gumbrecht, Stephen’s sister, said her favorite thing to sculpt was mice. Nicole Haylon, who will enter the fifth grade at Hawley this fall, said she preferred to sculpt tigers.

Hawley third grader Kim Tran was also in attendance, though a little camera shy. She couldn’t narrow down just what she liked to sculpt.

The finished products were displayed on cookie sheets placed on one of the room’s tables, each sheet containing at least six different creations.

The program ran from 9 am until noon each day this week, and concluded with students possessing numerous knick-knacks to decorate their rooms and homes.

“Some of the best stuff in here came from just playing with the clay for a few minutes and seeing what comes out of it,” explained Debby Tendler, who managed to keep her hands relatively clay-free with rubber gloves. She volunteered her time this week to supervise the program and lend some instruction.