THE ECHO

by Edward Crowe

At the beginning of each school day, art teacher James Copeland gets ready for his classes. This semester he is teaching four different classes, an uncommon occurrence for him.

Two of those classes include Ceramics I and II, where students get to work with clay. Ceramics I focuses on trying to learn foundational techniques and applying them for projects, such as creating clay tiles and cereal bowls.

“I think the first project that we do is the tile project,” said Copeland. “I think that it is a really good opportunity for students to learn the material, and I think that often students surprise themselves with how good they are at it.”

For Ceramics II, students take the foundational techniques that they learned in Ceramics One and apply them to more comprehensive and time-consuming projects.

“I really like the project that the Ceramics II kids are working on right now,” said Copeland. “It’s chip and dip sets, because everybody likes chip and dip sets.”

Along with both ceramics classes, Copeland also teaches Intro to 3D Art. According to Copeland, the class focuses on working with different materials for projects.

“I would say that like we teach technique, but it’s more getting an exposure to materials and ideas of art,” said Copeland.

One of the projects that those in Intro to 3D do is a mobile project, where students use various materials to create moving sculptures.

“The students get to potentially use glass, polymer clay, ceramic clay, any different materials that they can suspend to make kinetic sculpture that moves in,” said Copeland. “Especially this semester, we’ve got some really cool ones being built.”

A mobile project from senior Elliott Hershey was one that Copeland highlighted.

“He’s making a set of hot air balloons that he’ll suspend off of a wire, and they’ll interact with each other,” said Copeland. “I’m pretty excited about Elliot’s mobile project.”

After Intro to 3D Art is Sculpture. Much like with Ceramics II, Sculpture takes the foundations laid in Intro to 3D and expands upon it.

“They get to use a lot of the techniques that they built from Intro to 3D Art, but then they get to apply it to bigger, more grandiose projects,” said Copeland.

But how did Copeland end up becoming a ceramics teacher at Avon? Well, Copeland mentioned that when he first went to Purdue, he was instead going into a different field of study.

“I actually went to college to study food science and really did not enjoy it. It just wasn’t something that I appreciated,” said Copeland.

When seeing where to go next, Copeland sought advice from two of his former high school teachers. Through this exchange, he thought about his desire to become a teacher.

“I grew up telling people I wanted to be a math teacher, and I kind of went away from that and other things gained my interest,” said Copeland. “But when I really sat down and thought about it, I knew I wanted to teach.”

And according to Copeland, it would be during his time at Purdue that he would have his first experience with clay. He would then take two ceramics classes at Purdue before deciding to go for a degree in ceramics.

“My freshman year at Purdue was the first year that I had ever gotten to work with clay, and as soon as that had taken place, I kind of got bitten by the bug, like I just really enjoyed it,” said Copeland.

Copeland graduated from Purdue in 2015, and it was in 2018 that he got his first job at Avon High School. It was as a long-term substitute for art teacher Sarah Fowler when she was on maternity leave.

“I came and finished the second semester for them,” said Copeland. “But when she was healthy and was able to come back. It was her job to have.”

However, Copeland would come back to AHS two years later, this time as a full-time teacher.

“We had a staff member decide that they didn’t want to teach anymore and left. So, the [Avon Community School] Corporation invited me back,” said Copeland.

For extracurricular involvement, Copeland is one of the sponsors of the Dungeons and Dragons Club along with math teacher Timothy Titzer.

“I just rent the spaces and I’m the adult in the room, but most of the decisions and things happening are the students in the club,” said Copeland.

Copeland took over the role of club sponsor from math teacher Anthony Record. He has stated that the club membership usually is above 30 members, starting this year with 74 and having around 60 currently.

“I know that at one point, Mr. Record had it above 60 members, and then it fell drastically,” said Copeland. “I think the Stranger Things helped interest come back.”

Outside of School, Copeland also has an interest in motorcycles. This interest would be spawned when he was young and was watching Batman: The Animated Series, and he would get one of his own during his time in college.

I think I was probably 22 or 23 and when I lived in Lafayette, going to school at Purdue, that I got my first bike,” said Copeland. “And then I’ve kind of accumulated a couple since then.”

When reflecting on his path to becoming a teacher, Copeland highlighted the importance of ceramics in his career path,

“I don’t think that I would enjoy teaching if I didn’t get to teach ceramics. I think that that would be a game changer in my world,” said Copeland.