Get tales like this delivered straight to your inbox. Join The 74 E-newsletter
America is an unimaginable melting pot of individuals, languages and cultures — a testomony to the values our nation was constructed on. As an educator who has taught everywhere in the nation, I’ve seen firsthand the wealthy, but advanced tapestry of American communities.
At West Collierville Center College in Tennessee, our scholar physique displays the variety that defines America. Now we have college students from 34 nations who converse 24 languages. Final August, as all the time, the artwork academics, together with myself, began the varsity 12 months with a collaborative venture. However this time, we aspired to make a extra profound affect by involving as many scholar artists as potential.
Though People have alternatives to acknowledge and have a good time what makes our colleges, communities and nation so particular, division nonetheless exists in our nation. Such division was rising extra obvious to my colleagues and me within the months main as much as the 2024 presidential election.
This, partially, led to our choice to have all of our artwork college students take part within the worldwide College students Rebuild Spark Peace Mission. This venture invitations younger individuals across the globe to make use of their energy and creativity to construct a extra peaceable world. We wished our college students to participate in one thing that would assist them understand what binds us all collectively.
We created the “United We Stand” collage collectively, consisting of particular person 6-inch crimson, white and blue squares created by over 800 college students. When mixed, they kind a big picture of the American flag.
However that is no strange flag. Impressed by artists Jasper Johns and Norman Rockwell, we inspired college students to specific what peace, hope and love imply to them personally. Some college students included patriotic symbols, whereas others drew flags from their nations of origin.
One scholar, shy at first, requested, “Can I draw an image of my dwelling?” My reply was a powerful, “Sure!” This venture was about honoring every scholar’s distinctive perspective and life experiences whereas showcasing the power and unity of not solely our class, however our college, neighborhood and nation.
The venture’s collaborative nature allowed college students to attach not solely with their classmates, however with youngsters from totally different grade ranges within the college. For some, it was the primary time they got the liberty to specific their creativity in a manner that felt so significant. Earlier than the pandemic, college students had devoted time for artwork within the classroom, so having the ability to create collectively in individual once more was extraordinarily highly effective for them.
One scholar artist described drawing a hamburger — one thing quintessentially American. One other captured a reminiscence of household gatherings, intertwining it with the venture’s crimson, white and blue theme.
This openness to particular person expression is important. By embracing the private interpretations and representations of every of their friends, college students can see and perceive each other’s tradition and background. This, in flip, permits them to understand and worth one another’s uniqueness. By classroom discussions concerning the venture and the scholars’ conversations with each other as they every designed a bit to contribute to the collage, they discovered that peace isn’t just the absence of battle, but in addition the lively celebration of variety. The lesson prolonged far past my classroom. College students from totally different artwork lessons and grade ranges who won’t have interacted in any other case discovered similarities, realizing they’d extra in widespread than they initially thought.
Educators are uniquely positioned to form how younger individuals interact with each other and the world. In instances of change or transition, it’s important to equip college students with instruments that foster understanding, compassion, kindness and cooperation. Artistic initiatives just like the “United We Stand” collage present these alternatives. Cooperative initiatives train college students to work collaboratively and suppose critically, work collectively and categorical themselves authentically — abilities important for constructing wholesome relationships and a extra peaceable, united future.
This message of “United We Stand” was particularly resonant throughout a divisive election 12 months, and it stays in order People put together for the adjustments that can probably happen now that President Donald Trump has been inaugurated. But, this chance allowed our college neighborhood time to concentrate on what brings us collectively and unites us. By this artwork venture, the scholars demonstrated that unity doesn’t imply uniformity. In actual fact, it allowed them to weave their distinctive tales right into a shared narrative that strengthens the material of their whole neighborhood.
The collage now hangs in the principle hallway of our college. It serves as a each day reminder of the facility of collective effort and the great thing about variety. It’s a testomony to what we, as academics and college students, but in addition as People, can obtain after we concentrate on connection somewhat than battle.
Tales like these provide a glimmer of hope, serving as true reminders that the following era holds the promise of a extra compassionate, understanding world. Nurturing potential by way of schooling prioritizes and helps to develop empathy, creativity and inclusivity.
Get tales like these delivered straight to your inbox. Join The 74 E-newsletter