Is there any better way to celebrate retiring teachers than giving them a piece of the school to take with them? Harvesting clay from Woodgrove’s grounds, art and ceramics teacher Mr. Geoff DeMark makes sure every retiree has a small part of the heart of Woodgrove High School.
Collecting, cleaning, and prepping clay taken from Woodgrove’s land is a process Mr. DeMark commits to, in order to produce a piece that represents the community and memories of the school to the staff that is retiring. “I go down with my ceramics class at the beginning of every semester, and we dig a five gallon bucket of it…We try to pick out a little bit of the debris, leaves, and sticks, and then pulverize it to a degree. Put it in a bucket with water, let it get all soaked back up, whirl it up with a drill and a blender, pour it through a screen onto a plaster table, let it kind of soak out the water, and scoop it up,” DeMark explained. With his students, Mr. DeMark completes the process of spinning the pots on a pottery wheel and attaching a “W” to the lid. A labor of love, it is a tradition that began in 2022 to leave teachers with something special to remember their time at Woodgrove.
Ms. Tammy Pyle, one of Woodgrove’s English teachers, is retiring this year, and beginning to prepare for her departure from the grove. While clearing the walls of her classroom and cleaning out items collected from her years of teaching since Woodgrove’s founding, she feels the community the school has created. “As I was taking down all of my things, I thought my room used to be something that was really important to me, to create a safe space and a warm, welcoming space…The clay pot will be a perfect reminder of a place you’ve spent your life’s blood,” Ms. Pyle expressed. While many moments and memories are cherished and valued, a physical reminder made from Woodgrove’s property is a simple way to represent the time spent teaching and connecting with staff and students. Leaving behind the stone walls of her classroom and prepping for her retirement, Ms. Pyle is able to look back at her time at Woodgrove with appreciation.
The Woodgrove community is tight knit and is shown through the appreciation of the work staff has put in to bring the school closer together. The gifting of the Woodgrove clay pots as a way to express that community and as a physical piece that can be utilized for years to come as tradition that has only started recently, but has an impactful message. “It does seem to connect with them as far as a gift,” DeMark stated. Bridging retiring staff to the school for one last time before they start their journey outside of Woodgrove, Mr. DeMark’s dedication to his craft and Woodgrove’s staff appreciation is shown with a celebration of retirement.