At a school as diverse as Wallace Elementary, you might expect to find divisions among students. Instead what you’ll find are students who embrace their differences, and a new mural in the foyer that illustrates the uniting of their different backgrounds.
The 8′ by 8′ mural depicts three children, each of a different race, reaching toward the sky. Their hands morph into the roots of trees, symbolizing that the children are growing together.
“It’s a perfect mural for our school because we have a diverse learning environment,” says Principal Jeremy Gilbert.
The mural started with encouragement from Gilbert and the PTA. Both wanted a project to show the character of the school.
“A big thing of mine is displaying student art in the halls,” Gilbert says. “But we wanted something that was a little more permanent.”
Both he and the PTA had ideas of what they wanted, and made their suggestions to art teacher Beth Sanders.
“One wanted a mural, and the other wanted a mosaic,” Sanders says.
So she combined the two. She painted the children on wood and attached it to the wall. Then she used bits of tile to create the rest.
The idea for the mural’s subject came to Sanders as she was flipping through a magazine. A picture of a painting on the side of a building jumped out at her. She developed the idea to fit Wallace Elementary.
“It represents the community,” she says.
Even though Sanders was responsible for the painting in the middle of the mural, the entire school helped with the mosaic. Everyone from kindergartners to cafeteria workers stuck a piece of tile on the wall – even Richardson ISD Superintendent David Simmons contributed.
“The kids walk by and go, ‘That’s my piece,’” Sanders says. “I wanted them to realize that if their piece wasn’t up there, it would look funny.”
The art project also has led to other discussions, not only about murals, but about growing as a person, too.
“We talked about ways that you grow: in character, in knowledge,” Sanders says. “Not by ourselves, but together.”
And it seems Wallace Elementary is growing in many ways. The school is on track to receive an exemplary rating from the Texas Education Agency. It and Stults Road Elementary would be the first two schools in Lake Highlands to receive this honor, and Wallace would be one of only 12 elementary schools in Richardson ISD to receive the designation this year. This accomplishment was possible because everyone in the school accepts everyone else, Gilbert says.
“We’re all Wallace Wolverines together,” he says. “We celebrate diversity. That’s what has made us a success.”
Sanders says she hopes students remember this lesson every time they see their pieces in the mural.
“We’re all different,” she says. “But we all fit together.”
