I’m Sarah Howe, and for thirty years I’ve run pottery camps for children at my home in Durham, NC. What I love most about working with clay is how it teaches failure—the wobble, the collapse, and the surprise crack are all invitations to learn (not to stop!). I contribute by creating a space where kids are free from performance, where hovering parents are politely nudged aside, and I teach with what I call “calculated benign neglect.” I leave a void of instruction, and the kids get to fill it—or not. They experiment, they mess up, and they trust themselves anyway. I’m inspired watching successive generations of kids learn to say “it broke” and then say “I’ll try again.” The problem I’m hoping to solve is this: too often creativity in kids is taught as achieving success the first time they try something. I want them to see process, patience, and resilience as key skills not just in pottery, but in their real lives. I also want affordable art experiences where children of all backgrounds belong. What I get out of this is joy and connection. I love when a camper lights up because they’ve made something they believe in. When a parent sees their child take risks, I know we’ve built more than a pot—we’ve built confidence, community, and possibility.