Chapel Hill High School has welcomed Michelle Fairholm, the new ceramics teacher who believes her curriculum offers students hands-on, creative opportunities that can help them process the stresses of the pandemic.
Despite starting out as a first-grade arts teacher, Fairholm has always had a passion for working with clay. She moved around from job to job, eventually finding work as a ceramics instructor at Carolina Friends School while also teaching wheel-throwing classes at the Chapel Hill Community Clay Studio.
The Ohio native majored in studio arts in college, practicing painting and printmaking. She first tried ceramics in her junior year of college.
“I was terrible at it, completely awful for a very long time, but I loved how it challenged me and energized me to learn how to properly do it,” she said.
Fairholm believes learning ceramics is similar to reading: anyone is capable of doing it with enough effort.
Making pottery on the side quickly developed from a hobby to a business for Fairholm.
“Essentially, I had too many pots, and not enough people to give them away to,” she said.
By selling her creations at small galleries, shops and online, Fairholm bought clay to support her small business, which she calls a “self-funding hobby.”
In the classroom, Fairholm focuses on teaching the basic techniques of pottery, such as throwing on the wheel and preparing clay for the kiln. Above all, Fairholm encourages her students to harness their creativity when making pieces.
Senior Grace Davis, who is taking Ceramics I, said she appreciates the autonomy Fairholm grants her classes.
“Ms. Fairholm does a good job at letting us be creative and explore the clay work on our own,” Davis said. “The class is very informative and helpful, especially if you’re just starting out.”
Fairholm said she values students’ mental health and believes ceramics classes provide students the opportunity to decompress and learn other valuable skills, such as problem solving and patience.
Senior Nicole Beetham praised Fairholm’s enthusiastic attitude, noting that Fairholm regularly “brings up the energy of the classroom.”
Fairholm, in turn, said she feeds off of her students’ energy and that her class is unique in that students are learning without being glued to a screen.
“It’s a very anti-computer environment,” she said.
