OUR TEAM

Rachel Boschman, Program Coordinator & Instructor

Raised in an artistic home where imagination was encouraged, Rachel often wondered why almost every child paints, draws, or colours something creative all the time but almost no adults do.  She decided to make it a goal to keep that creative joy alive in the children that she knew so started teaching kids in her community how to sculpt.

When Rachel found out about Clay for Kids, she knew that it was the perfect career choice!!!  Not only teaching something educational and on curriculum, but also reminding children how to reach into their own imaginations and express themselves with their clay and glass pieces.

“I love how children sometimes start out doubting that they can make something amazing, but by the end of the class, they have fallen in love with their own piece, and claim it to be the best one they’ve ever seen”.  Rachel loves to inspire her classes and hopes that they will take that love of creativity with them as they march into adulthood.

Jennifer Ross, Instructor

Jennifer earned a certificate in floral design from Olds College in 1989 and spent 25 years in the floral industry.  Looking for a career change Jennifer joined Clay for Kids in 2015.  It was a perfect fit, the opportunity to work with children while still allowing her to be creative.  “I’ve always loved working with my hands and getting dirty.  I took pottery classes several years ago and fell in love with it but the time restraints of raising young children didn’t allow me to continue.  Now that my children are grown and moved away I have time to rediscover my love of pottery”.
“Seeing the excitement in their eyes as I watch a child transform a ball of clay into a beautiful piece of art is very rewarding”.  Every day is an adventure, a new school, a different project and enthusiastic kids to work with.

Jennifer Tomkiw, Instructor

Jennifer is a former elementary school teacher of 15 years, always interested in fine arts, she pursued a variety of art mediums during her career as a teacher. While her children were still at home she took evening classes studying a variety of art mediums at the North Mount Pleasant art centre in Calgary. During that time she acquired the skills and knowledge to become an artist with acrylic painting being her favorite medium.

Jennifer has enjoyed painting commissioned landscapes from her home studio and eventually went on to work in a studio teaching kids and adults a variety of art mediums. When she discovered Clay for Kids she knew it would be a perfect fit! Jennifer has always known that the arts such as pottery, encourages fine motor skills, problem solving abilities and can be used effectively to understand other subjects such as reading, writing, math and science.

“In art there are no mistakes, only discoveries”

Anh Hilderman, Studio Technician

Anh is a highly organized wife and mother of two, her hobbies include cooking, baking and reading.  She volunteers at her children’s school and manages the fun lunch program.  Anh is passionate about giving back to the community and enjoys spending time with her family. 

Anh is charge of our main production studio preparing all our hand made materials, firing the precious projects and keeping us all organized and on track!

Kelly Edmondson, Program Director

Kelly is the team leader of Clay for Kids.  Working with Clay for Kids is a dream come true because it brings together her love of art, education and business.  What attracted Kelly to Clay for Kids was how much the art projects are cherished for years to come by the customers and their families.

Kelly loves bringing special events to the classrooms, working with children to bring out their creativity through the clay and glass.  Kelly lives in Calgary with her husband and 2 sons.

Bryson Smith, Owner/ Chief Information Officer

Bryson is our I.T. guy and behind the scenes ninja with all things computer security, data analytics and cloud computing.