The ceramics studio has had lots of activity since students have returned from winter break, rows of freshly thrown bowls on shelves, but all have a purpose, which is giving back. As a part of Princeton Day School’s Empty Bowls annual event, ceramics students are creating bowls. 

Freshman Maya San Martin shared, “we’re making bowls to sell in between the musical performances on Saturday and the money goes to charity for food. It’s usually very busy every day.” These bowls will be sold along with soup, and the proceeds go to organizations fighting worldwide hunger, including TASK in Trenton, Feeding America, and The Chubby’s Project in Hopewell.

Students have been dedicating weeks of time to this project, even creating competitions. On February 10th 2026, the annual bowl-making competition between five students (Jess, Simran, Lexi, Freya, and Cora), and ceramics teacher Eric Rempe, gained lots of attraction and support, and is usually a success for the students every year. Even during class, students have been working hard. 

Freshman Alicia Xue explained, “we have a goal of 500 bowls, and we have been making bowls since we got off of winter break,” showing how each step to helping others requires patience and teamwork. The result is a collection of unique, handmade bowls. 

Beyond the craftsmanship, students say that this project has a deeper meaning, as San Martin put it, “I think Empty Bowls is such a good tradition that we have here at PDS to both incorporate students and give back to the community,” and many students agree. 

Empty bowls is a great way to not only support PDS, but to support our local community here in New Jersey, showing how passions like ceramics can be used for good.