Reason #47 Why paint a wall?

As I was standing by the gym door at the assembly yesterday, the principal was talking to another teacher who had done something to make his life a little more challenging.  At one point he looked in my direction and quietly said “Yeah. And some teachers want to paint a wall.” I appreciated the humor, but also acknowledge the place he has in the revolution my kids started. He is the front man on a project he knew nothing about until two days ago that got the go ahead from the district within a few hours.

I am the instigator, focusing entirely on the positive of the project. That is where my energy is going. My heart is with my kids.  My heart is in this completely.  He, on the other hand, is visualizing the conversation he might have to have to explain this little revolution from a different perspective.

In preparation for our school policy on this project, I asked my students about the purpose of this project the: “Why do you want to do this?”  they had interesting thoughts to share.  It was their idea after all to bring it to our school so they better be able to explain it. Here they are in action with their reasoning:

The purpose of our Interactive Wall Project is to…

express how we feel

make awesome memories

leave something for younger generations to continue

discover that we are not so different

help kids aspire to do something more with their lives

be happy and excited and more engaged in our classes

be encouraged to be more involved in school

give students a space to share and express themselves

give positivity to students and the school

get people involved

spread the positivity and the hope that each of us has within us with those around us.

promote the creative voice of the student body through literacy

motivate the students to achieve their aspirations

to feel comfortable in a school where there is support and no judgment to one’s opinion

become aware of our cultural diversity

stand as a positive advocate to the students and adults alike

allow the students to express their voice and respect other’s ideals and backgrounds

promote connection between students

create a sense of positive community

allow students to express their feelings out loud

get more students involved with reading and writing that is made to be fun

learn what interests students and share

inspire others to create this in more schools

see what people will say

promote the unity of our Highland community

promote literacy and creativity for students through a hands-on activity

provide a way for students to happily participate in the learning process

allow students to express or show their ideas, such as their perspectives, on certain topics

help to expand students’ reading and writing skills

give students an opportunity to express themselves not only through the writing that will be involved, but also because of the art work

teach us to work together as a team to accomplish this big idea

be more involved in school activities that we actually like and are putting together

start thinking about whatever it is the phrase of the week says, whether it is “After I graduate…”, “My inspiration is…”

create a positive impact on the community and on us

as a simple everyday question

realize the little things you don’t take advantage of and try to make the best of the situation

show the community that students think about what can happen later, not just what is happening now

bring community closer

show all the voices here at Highland and show who makes up Highland

connect students and see what goals we have

show other people, who don’t know Highland, how great our school is

give everyone a chance to have a voice and be able to speak their dreams

make people think about how their life is

share voices

spread creativity and let everyone have a voice

share a positive message

inspire people and make them feel good

get people to understand about their life and see what’s important

get to know more people

be able to contribute something that can be life-changing;

make us think a little more about long-term goals and is another way to bring our community together

help people open up as well as me

bring more maturity to our school

help people speak their voices

be a part of something.

Why are students excited about this project?

I am excited about this because gets our mind off of things that stress us out.

I want to be heard and hear everybody else.

I believe we will be making people open their minds…

I am excited about this project because everyone needs to be a part of something.

Maybe people will write the same things on the wall and people will know they aren’t alone, that there are other people like them.

It’ll be such a great feeling for other people to know my goal and something that I’m really excited to do and also able to see what other peoples’ dreams are too! 

This is how community inspires creativity! Look at all these reasons, all these heartfelt reasons spoken with emotions and desires. And people think that teenagers can’t have deep conversations about life.  Maybe they just need more opportunities? 

I ended up including the entire list in our "Policy" under purpose.  How could anyone pick and choose, water it down?  Not me. No way! All their voices deserve to be shared. That will lead to another entry! 

Merci mes enfants pour vos voix, pour vos idées, pour votre croyance que vous pouvez faire une différence chez nous, et dans le monde! Vous êtes formidables !   

This is why I teach!