For Students of the world, what says welcome to school like a literal welcome to school? Better still, students, parents, community members, staff and faculty from all over the world are able to connect with this larger than life wordle! It truly welcomes all.
This school project is again interactive. We have book ended Dove Hill’s office entrance with color and play! It passes the Gemellos test! This mural will be fun for photos not only in front of the little words themselves, but Dove Hill is perfect for full classes and staff photos. The Bear/School Mascot is awesome for graduations and one off photo opts.
Here’s how that all came together.
Story times with no picture ( because it’s a school and there are rules about taking pictures of other people’s children ) :
1. A little Cambodian girl came up with her teary eyed father to take their own picture in front of the mural. He asked me if I knew that was Cambodian and yes but only because my brother did time in the Peace Corps in Cambodia. He took a moment to tell me he feels so welcome and so good sending his daughter there. On another occasion, the daughter told me she wasn’t like the other Asians and it made her feel so proud to be acknowledged.
2. There’s a large Indian demographic in Evergreen. I’ve been to India twice and there’s huge portions I know nothing about. It’s a subcontinent of distinct cultures. I’m such a novice about it. So when a Punjabi gentleman correctly my spelling and thanked me for including him, I was really grateful to him and touched by his kindness. Sometimes these things don’t go well when all I’m trying to do is acknowledge other cultures. He was so gracious.
3. I threw in languages with funky letters specifically to break up all the English looking ones. Cambodian, wonderful for that. Likewise, Japanese, Chinese, the Indian sandskrits, etc. So Russian was one of those in this neighborhood that I thought no one is going to recognize but it looks awesome in the mix. So, when the redhead came up and read it to his Asian friends, it was pretty special for me. We smiled and had a moment. He asked me how my day was every day.
