Empty Bowls Service Learning Project

Empty Bowls at Fayston School

Empty Bowls is an international grassroots effort created to help fight hunger and spread awareness about food insecurity.  Although each group’s Empty Bowls project looks a bit different, the basic premise is simple.  Participants work with potters to create handcrafted ceramic bowls.  The community is invited to a simple meal and in exchange for a cash donation, guests may keep a ceramic bowl as a reminder of the many empty bowls in the world.  Funds raised from the event are donated to an organization that works to alleviate hunger. 

Fayston Elementary School has received a grant from the Vermont Principals Association to implement an Empty Bowls Service Learning project in the early part of 2012.  Fayston students will work with local potter Leslie Montalto to create ceramic bowls with handbuilding and on the potter’s wheel.  Additionally, they will learn about many aspects of food insecurity and hunger prevention efforts in their community and beyond.  Over the course of the project, students will work to create products that demonstrate their knowledge, specifically drawing upon the many technology resources that are available and incorporating learning in many disciplines. 

In order for this school-wide project to truly succeed, support from parents and our surrounding community is essential.  If you are interested in being a coordinator for the Empty Bowls project for your child’s classroom, please contact your child’s teacher or Nora McDonough at Nora@madriver.com.  As a classroom coordinator, you may help put together a learning activity, join the planning committee for meetings, participate with the bowl making process, or help organize donations for the final event.  This is an exciting opportunity for the Fayston School and your support and involvement is greatly appreciated! 

For more information about the Empty Bowls project, visit the Empty Bowls page on the Fayston School web site http://faystonelementary.org/empty-bowls-project or contact Nora McDonough at Nora@madriver.com.