A Collage of Culture

We created this mural with the intent of demonstrating how our nation is a mosaic of cultures. It is black and white for a reason - to demonstrate that we share a common destiny as humanity. The middle part is in color as a symbol of our belief in freedom and the fact that we are all immigrants. Students created this in the 2006-2007 school year.

Borman Astro Mural

One area where students can help is in improving the look and feel of Borman. Unfortunately, people can have a negative view of the school. In sports, the gymnasium can seem sparse and empty. For these reasons, we have created an Astro mural. It will go in the gymnasium to remind schools that they are on Borman turf. Moreover, it is just one way to say "we love it here at our school and we are proud of what we accomplish."

Decoupage

Decoupage is a French word meaning . . . okay, well, we really don't know what it means. In our case, it means gluing on a bunch of tissue papers to a canvas and then adding some paint to it. We did six canvases - one for each of the IMPACT values.

Paper Border

This project is still a work in progress. It's not really a mural, so much as a three-dimensional art project. On the front side (here) we still need to add detail work to the statue of liberty and to the scenes on the left and right. The statue of liberty represents immigration and the scene on the left is Ellis Island. The scene on the right is the dessert and represents immigration now. On the back, we have created a mock border and we'll have one hand print to represent each person who has died crossing the border in the last year.

We chose to create the border entirely out of paper (with starch to create paper machet and with a little duct tape to make it work.) We chose this, becuase it is often the legal barrier (the papers) that creates the biggest barrier for immigrants. By far this is the most controversial of all the visual arts projects we have created. It's still a work in progress and we're still trying to figure out how to improve the structural aspects of it.

Our Social Voice - a work in progress

This is still a work in progress. We hope to finish it by September 1, 2008. As you can see, there are still windows that need a picture, a large billboard and a skyline that need to be sketched and created, as well as tons of detail work. However, by the end, it should be something we can look toward with a sense of accomplishment.

It Takes a Village

There is great symbolism in this. The path represents the pathway of education that lasts for a lifetime. In the distant is the city skyline of Phoenix, a reminder that the whole community has contributed to our education. Each of the boxes will include pictures of people who help contribute to a child's education.

The following pictures are from when it was still a work in progress. It took us a little over one quarter to finish it.

In addition to the mural, we had specific projects connected to the "It Takes a Village" concept. These included:
-A thank you barbecue where IMPACT students served the support staff at Borman
-A thank you blog where students shared their educational goals and mentioned how people helped contribute to their education
-Thank you letters written by students and given to people who have helped make their education possible

Paper Border Project

This project is still a work in progress. It's not really a mural, so much as a three-dimensional art project. On the front side (here) we still need to add detail work to the statue of liberty and to the scenes on the left and right. The statue of liberty represents immigration and the scene on the left is Ellis Island. The scene on the right is the dessert and represents immigration now. On the back, we have created a mock border and we'll have one hand print to represent each person who has died crossing the border in the last year.

We chose to create the border entirely out of paper (with starch to create paper machet and with a little duct tape to make it work.) We chose this, becuase it is often the legal barrier (the papers) that creates the biggest barrier for immigrants. By far this is the most controversial of all the visual arts projects we have created. It's still a work in progress and we're still trying to figure out how to improve the structural aspects of it.

flower power

One of the most popular projects we did included community service and creativity. Students painted flower pots for residents in an assisted living nursing home. Each student added a creative element to make every pot one of a kind. The residents seemed excited about their new gifts as well! Next year, we will be giving these to a different nursing home, where can have students interview residents for our Living History podcasts.

service hours

We ended up having over 2,000 service hours! One of the projects (which was led by the Social Awareness Club) was baking good and creating baskets for Mother's Day at a domestic violence shelter. Here are a few pictures of IMPACT students who participated: