MIDVALE, UT — At Hillcrest High School, Ceramics teacher Blaine Atwood does more than just teach students how to throw clay on a wheel; he helps them create something they can be proud of long after they leave his classroom.
Atwood didn’t always plan on teaching high school. After teaching at the College of Eastern Utah for 13 years, his program was closed during construction of a new building. For the next four years, he worked independently making and selling pottery full time.
“I was doing really well with it,” Atwood said. “But after about four years of just doing that all alone, I realized that I liked being around people instead of just sitting by myself in the basement.” That realization pushed him back into teaching and eventually brought him to Hillcrest.
When asked about his favorite part of being a teacher, Atwood kept it simple: it’s the people. After spending years working alone, he missed the energy and interaction that comes from being in a classroom.
His goals for students go beyond grades or assignments. “My ultimate goal for my students is for them to walk out of Ceramics with a mug, a bowl cover or a little sculpted piece that they can carry with them as long as it lasts,” Atwood said. “It’ll be their thing that they’re proud of — the thing that they’ve made.”
He wants students to use what they create by eating cereal out of a bowl or taking their mug with them to college as a reminder of what they’re capable of.
One of Atwood’s proudest moments as an artist came while earning his Master of Fine Arts degree. After being told by instructors that a final show could never consist of only mugs, he decided to prove them wrong. “My whole MFA show was I made a thousand mugs,” Atwood said. The exhibit was organized as a journey for those walking through it, and it was so successful that the same instructors who doubted him brought their classes to see it. “They brought their class down to say, ‘Look, you made it and you did it with those mugs.’”
Interestingly, Atwood didn’t start out in ceramics. He originally received a full-ride scholarship in painting. However, once he took a required Ceramics class, everything clicked. “When I started throwing on the pottery wheel, things clicked in my head,” Atwood said. “I understand things three-dimensionally.”
Growing up building projects with his dad in a woodshop helped him naturally think in three dimensions, making Ceramics feel like the right fit.
As a teacher, Atwood focuses on creating a relaxed, low-stress classroom. “I like my class to be a little laid back,” Atwood said. “I don’t like it to be high stress. I feel like some students are stressed enough when they come in.” While the environment is calm, he still pushes students to grow. “My goal as a teacher is to have a fun, relaxed learning environment and then push those students as hard as I can,” Atwood said. “Expand their own horizons.”
That mindset has already made an impact. According to Atwood, several students have considered continuing Ceramics beyond high school, even looking into buying their own pottery wheels or kilns.
After teaching in Oklahoma for four years, Atwood returned to Utah so his family could be closer to home. “She started feeling like she needed to be closer to family,” Atwood said. “So I said let’s move back to Utah.”
Now at Hillcrest, Atwood continues to shape more than clay; he helps students build confidence, creativity, and pride in something they can truly call their own.
