COOEKVILLE, Tenn. -- When Christian Gibbs wraps up her softball career at Tennessee Tech and embarks upon her professional career in teaching, she will be molding young minds.
In the meantime, the senior utility player from Collierville, Tenn., is teaching youngsters how to do the molding....ceramics, that is.
Majoring in interdisciplinary studies with her emphasis in both ceramics and education, Gibbs recently combined those skills to teach a kindergarten class at South Prescott Elementary School in Cookeville. She first spoke to Ms. Beech's class of 18 eager students on April 1, teaching the kids how to make their own ceramic owls. Gibbs took those projects with her to finish them off with the 'firing' process, and returned the following week to present each child with their final project.
It was the third time in Gbbs' collegiate work that she has visited one of the Putnam County Schools, each on a different grade level and each with a different type of art project.
"This (ceramics in kindergarten) was a chance to help get the kids thinking creatively and to experience something new," Gibbs explained.
With the assistance of one of her professors, Gibbs set up the class appearances. With Ms. Beech's class, she taught the kids how to make a cermic owl from a slab of clay. Once 'fired' and finished, the kids had owls that they could take home and add the finishing touches by painting. The 'firing' process was hectic for Gibbs, who had to find time amidst the team's travel schedule to Illinois for four games over the weekend on which she had planned to complete the project.
"We started with a presentation about 'what is clay'," Gibbs said. "Then I went through a step-by-step demonstration with them, using some of the amazing classroom technology they have available here.
"It was great," she said. "Everybody in the class was able to be creative. Overall, they were great listeners and they were excited about it. They did an awesome job."
Gibbs is slated to graduate in May, on the same day as the Ohio Valley Conference Softball Tournament championship game that she hopes to be playing in. On Sunday, she played her part in helping the team advance toward the tourney field by scoring the winning run in a 7-6, seventh-inning walk-off win over Jacksonville State.
From Tech, she plans to take her skills and education into the classroom.
"This was a great experience," she said. "It has led me to think that I might want to teach in the elementary schools instead of high schools, so it gives me something to think about."
A perennial name on both the Athletic Director's Honor Roll and the OVC Commissioner's Academic Honor Roll, Gibbs has continued to excel in the classroom after posting tremendous credentials at Collierville High School, both in the classroom and on the softball diamond. She earned the Silver Key for the National Scholastics art competition in 2009 and was the visual arts reflections winner all four years at Collierville.
