Transform school culture with murals! When you change a school environment, you change how people feel. One teacher exclaimed: “This looks AMAZING! It makes me so happy!.” What if MORE teachers felt like that! It’s possible, with a little paint!
Kindness Club Murals have important messages to share and life lessons to teach. First of all, they show students that school is a place where you get to do BIG things. They can paint on walls and create art for everyone to enjoy.
Secondly, students get to share their thoughts, hopes, and dreams. This builds their VOICES. The result: they engage. One counselor said “I walked by and was so surprised that a few of those students were participating.” This is a mindset: students don’t want to participate. The fact is that they really do. We just need to engage them in NEW ways, ways that connect with them as people. Murals do just that!
School can be a place where students have new opportunities to do things they may not have ever done before. It teaches them to develop vision and to believe in themselves. How about that for expanding education!
What started as a logo and project turned in to a t-shirt then transformed into a MURAL with a MESSAGE! “A single act of kindness throws out roots in all directions, and those roots spring up and make new trees.” – Amelia Earhart
STEP ONE: HAPPY HEARTS
The Kindness Club at Van Buren Middle School in Albuquerque, New Mexico started a Happy Heart Mural so students could make their mark with their heart. The message is that “Positivity Prevails.” Teachers say it brings “joy” to the courtyard. One teachers said “Keep the art coming!” Students are engaging in new ways and one teacher noted that a Kindness Club students’ performance and attitude in class has improved remarkably.
STEP 2: HANDPRINTS
There’s no better way to make a mark on a school than handprints!
STEP 3: KINDNESS TREE with message from Amelia Earhart
The wall continued to grow with the Kindness Tree, promoting Amelia Earhart’s message of the power of one act of kindness. Towering at 12 feet tall, the tree has created more warmth and a space to gather. Now we can simply say “Meet at the Tree.” and everyone know where to go.
Why stop there? The mural continues to flow across the wall.
STEP 4: Butterflies
The next section includes butterflies. Students trace butterflies, placing them on the wall creating an original design. Once outlined, they go back and paint them, adding their own personal touches.
The butterflies represent the transformative power of kindness. One act of kindness can make more of a difference that we may ever know. One definition of the butterfly effect is: “The scientific theory that a single occurrence, no matter how small, can change the course of the universe forever.”
STEP 5: GO VIRAL!
Invite the whole school to add their hearts and hands!
CHECK out the T-shirts that started it all! CLICK HERE