Pottery class wraps up
For 38 years, pottery has been running as an evening class at Hamilton Boys’ High School.
However, this month the class will come to an end.
Ben Krishnan is the man who has hosted the class all the way through.
The class is wrapping up because reductions in subsidies for night classes over the last few years meant the costs students faced were prohibitive.
That made the class no longer financially viable.
It’s a trend occurring in schools throughout the country.
Hamilton Boys is the last school in the city that has held night classes is pottery.
Krishnan was previously an art teacher at Melville High School, before starting at Hamilton Boys in 1980 and becoming head of the art department in 1986.
He taught there until his retirement in 2006, but has continued hosting night classes every week, ever since.
‘‘I have greatly enjoyed teaching the classes and meeting interesting, talented people from all walks of life.
‘‘The class has remained popular over the years.
‘‘At one stage I was teaching two classes a week.’’
Even though the students in class gave him great accolades, Krishnan kept insisting on giving the kudos back to the students.
They were what made the class mean so much to him.
It is the reason he has kept teaching, past retirement.
The class has also been about more than pottery.
It has drawn people together forming a wha¯nau of its own.
Attendees have confided in each other about what’s happening in their lives while sharing the experience of pottery.
Some of the women have been attending for over 10 years, building great friendships with other hobbyist potters, making everything from mugs, to decorative bowls, to plates, to busts.