When most people think of essential classroom tools, laser-etched rolling pins don’t come to mind. But at Centennial High School in Roswell, Georgia, these unique Vermont-made implements are revolutionizing how students approach ceramic art.
Thanks to a strategic grant from the Roswell Woman’s Club, Centennial’s ceramics program acquired a collection of specialized textured rollers—each one a masterpiece of laser-etched maple craftsmanship from Vermont Pottery Works. Combined with professional-grade Potter’s Choice and Mayco glazes, these tools are helping level the playing field for aspiring artists in courses ranging from beginning ceramics to Advanced Placement 3D Design.
The impact? Just ask Gigi, a first-year ceramics student whose rose-themed piece—created after only a month in the program—already shows gallery-worthy craftsmanship. Her work, inspired by family and brought to life through these specialized tools, exemplifies how the right resources can fast-track artistic development.
“We’re supported, but not supported enough,” noted the ceramics teacher John Riggins, highlighting a common challenge in art education. But through community partnership and strategic investment in quality materials, Centennial’s program is molding more than clay—it’s shaping future artists who can compete at the highest levels.
“We are very thankful to the Roswell Woman’s Club for supporting the visual arts program at Centennial,” Riggins said. “Through their education grant, we were able to purchase rollers that create specialized textures, and we were also able to purchase high-fire glazes so that students could have their own unique creative voice in their art.”