Creating Change by the
What does it take to make
1,100-plus ceramic mugs?
And raise $8,500? Well, for starters, a
whole lot of clay. Here’s a breakdown
of the numbers behind Woodbury
Creating Change.
Start with about 1,200 pounds of
clay (or 24 50-pound boxes).
Make1 80 plaster molds.
Roll 1,100 or so pounds of clay into
1,100-plus flat, 9-inch round slabs. Each
slab is about one pound.
Each slab gets molded into one mug.
Add handle (and sometimes feet), which
requires more boxes of clay.
Repeat 1,100-plus times.
All 800 -plus Woodbury
students, around 100 Woodbury faculty,
and 200 community members made mugs.
Dry mugs for one week.
Fire dried mugs in the kiln; it takes
8-9 hours to heat the kilns up
and 13-15 hours to cool them down.
Numbers
The temperature tops out at more than
2,000 degrees Fahrenheit.
Woodbury’s two medium kilns hold
between 45-50 mugs. Its large kiln holds
70-75 mugs, so at most 175 mugs can be
fired at once.
That means 1,100 -plus
mugs take about six days, 24 hours a day,
to fire.
Next, decorate 1,100-plus mugs with
glaze (called an under-glaze). Use upwards of
120 jars of glaze in a variety of colors.
Fire mugs again. That’s another six 24-
hour days of firing Woodbury’s three kilns.
Next, dip 1,100-plus mugs into 15
gallons of clear glaze and fire every mug
again. That makes 18 days, or more than
400 hours in total, of kiln firings. Phew.
Fill 1,100-plus mugs with
gallons upon gallons of hot chocolate,
coffee, tea, or non-alcoholic ginger beer,
while noshing on hundreds of sweet
treats donated by 25 -plus area
restaurants, bakeries, chefs, and markets.
Tally volunteer hours by two committed
art teachers, a committee of 15 parents
and teachers, and more than 100
additional volunteers and you get…
way too many hours to count.
Donate more than
$8,500
to four area not-for-profit organizations.
Attendees voted for the not-for-profit
their donation would benefit and
proceeds were divided as follows:
Isaac’s Wells, 32%;
Personal Wishes of Sudanese
Lost Boys, 32%;
US Together, 16%; and
Hunger Network in Shaker, 20%.
Wait...
a year
and start
all over
again.
50 SHAKERONLINE.COM | SUMMER 2014