Along the first floor hallway at Middlesex Middle School (MMS), the finishing touches are being made to an out-of-this-world installation.
Picture from Darien Public Schools website
Students in Art teacher Rebecca Stern’s 8th grade class are completing the first-of-its-kind mural for the school. The mural, which does not have a name yet, has the planet Earth in the center.
Students representing all the teams and activities orbit the planet. At MMS, students are grouped into teams — four per grade level — which are named by color, such as Red, Yellow, Aqua, Purple, and Green.
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— This announcement is from the Darien Public Schools website.
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“It was really important to the students to include the colors of all of the teams, a blue wave and a variety of students involved in the diverse opportunities that MMS presents,” said Stern. She added that these include MMS Quiz Bowl, the play, computers, Art, Science, and reading.
The mural was the designed by MMS student Sophie Howard based on the work done with her Maroon team classmates. They started with words they felt described the MMS student body — unity, community, pride, creativity, and friendship. Sketches were developed and reviewed with Principal Debi Boccanfuso before painting started.
“From conceptualization to completion, it took about eight weeks. In fact, finishing touches are still being added by student volunteers during their study hall as well as before and after school,” said Stern. “The biggest challenge was taking turns painting on the wall.”
Stern said the students feel a great sense of pride in knowing they created something that will last after they have moved on to high school.
“This mural specifically highlights the diverse experiences that MMS students participate in across all grade levels. This mural, and showcasing student artwork in general in schools, allows students to have a voice.”