http://www.hometownlife.

com/article/20140417/NEWS24/304170083/Tinkham-students-Empty-Bowls-helps-W-W-families
Page 1 of 2 Apr 20, 2014 01:59:12PM MDT
Kerin Stover, a teacher at the
Tinkham Center, and Evan
Wilsdon, an adult ed student at
the school, look at bowls
created by students for the
event.
Tinkham students' Empty Bowls helps W-W families
Written by Sue Mason Staff Writer
Apr. 19 hometownlife.com
Helping Out
The Wayne-Westland Family Resource
CentersIts mission is to partner with families, the community, and school
district staff in order to positively impact the success of every Wayne-Westland
student. Through a collaborative effort, it link families with agencies,
organizations, volunteer groups, and schools to meet their social, emotional,
physical and academic needs.It accepts donations of toiletries, school supplies,
and new socks and underwear, as well as monetary donations. Items can be
dropped off at the center which is housed inside Adams Upper Elementary
School at 33475 Palmer, west of Venoy, in Westland.For more information, call
734-419-2709.
It was one of those moments for Bill Johnson who went to the Tinkham
Alternative High School to pick up his grandson and met
social studies teacher Diane Fournier.
The two hooked up again Tuesday, when Johnson, UAW chairman at the Michigan Assembly Plant in
Wayne, and UAW Representative Dwayne Walker, presented her with a check for $1,000 from UAW
members who work the line for an Empty Bowls benefit
she coordinated at the Tinkham Alternative High School.
I ran into her in the hallway and she said, I know you do a lot for the community, how about this, said
Johnson. Now, I think weve been drawn and will buy them a kiln. Sometime this summer well pick out
the piece so they have it ready for school in September.
Fournier worked with art teacher Ann Chambers in setting up the project and with the Omankane the
Collective, a 21st Century afterschool program to make the pottery bowls that guests received at the event
which raised money
for the Wayne-Westland Family Resource Center.
An overflow crowd filled the commons at the William D. Ford Career Technical Center where culinary
instructor Chef Tony Paquette, his staff and students had prepared four different soups, sandwiches and
desserts for the fundraiser.
Change of pace
The benefit was a change of pace for Amanda Faughnan, resource center director, who wasnt involved in
organizing the event. Unlike the holiday buffet where Faughnan works with Paquette to raise money to
http://www.hometownlife.com/article/20140417/NEWS24/304170083/Tinkham-students-Empty-Bowls-helps-W-W-families
Page 2 of 2 Apr 20, 2014 01:59:12PM MDT
buy holiday meals for families, she only had to make short speech to guests.
This was an all Tinkham event; it was totally student driven, an all student involvement, said Faughnan.
This will go for students and families in need. Ive seen demand for our services go up. There are more
families coming in for basic needs and help
in finding places to go for assistance. Many are the working poor, and many come in looking for job
assistance.
In acknowledging those in attendance, Fournier took a moment to celebrate one of our greatest
community treasures ... our young people and the work they did.
As educators, we have some pretty lofty goals for our students, Fournier said. We want them to be
readers and writers. We want them to develop critical thinking skills. We want them to become problem
solvers and create beautiful things. We want them to connect the work they do in school to life outside
school. We want them to recognize the positive impact
they can have on their neighborhood and the world.
We are thrilled to take part in a project like this because it brings students so much closer to those goals,
she added.
Tinkham senior Courtney Hill made about five bowls and designed and painted 10 bowls for the event.
It was great and fun to do at the same time, she said. It was messy.
Glad to help
This was the first time Patricia Steel, better known as Miss Pat, is a facilitator with Omankane the
Collective, and director Margaret James had been at the Career Technical Center. Like other attendees,
they found the food was excellent and were glad their students helped with the benefit.
Miss Fournier contacted us about getting involved, we did about 30 bowls, said Steele. Some of the
students were excited, some were, Oh no, not bowls, but after awhile they got into it. We have about 20
students in the program. We couldnt get all of them involved.
Shirleen Curtis of Westland and her daughter Tonia Szabo were among people who attended. The two
women are active in the First United Methodist Church in Wayne. Curtis had seen a posting about the
benefit on Facebook and thought it would be neat since her daughter does pottery.
The First United does a lot of work with the Family Resource Center, she said. This is a way to pay it
forward. They help us and we can help them.
Faughnan hopes the Empty Bowls benefit will become an annual event.
I loved going over there and watching them make the bowls. They were very proud about making the
bowls and talking about what they were doing, said Faughnan. I would love if they did it again in the
future.