P.S. 127 students strut their stuff, debut new mural

Summer is quickly approaching and students at P.S. 127, gave classmates, family and friends a taste of the upcoming season in its “Summer Songs” themed dance festival on the morning of June 16.

Working with the school’s partner organization, Young Dancers in Repertory, students in grades kindergarten through fifth performed a dance routine to fun warm weather songs that they’ve been learning all year.

This event is one of the very few that the entire student body is involved in, making it a great way for the school year to come to a close, and was even more significant this year as the school unveiled its brand new mural that the students have collaborated on since January.

The mural was created in cooperation with Thrive Collective, a non-profit organization that encourages art in public schools, which sent its artists to P.S. 127 to help students from kindergarten to fifth grade brainstorm ideas about what they want their mural to represent.

“We agreed that the big idea should communicate our vibrant mix of cultures, celebrate our heritage, and show appreciation of our home – Brooklyn,” said Agatha Alicandro, P.S. 127 principal.

The mural, named “I Am Brooklyn,” was a lengthy but extremely fulfilling process for the students, parents and staff, involving immense collaboration and community spirit.

Individual students created sketches of what Brooklyn meant for them and worked with their classmates to merge ideas into a single design. Thrive’s creative director, Sam Wisneski, and his partner took those sketched designs, combined them with their own ideas, and created beautiful designs that they taught the students how to paint onto the wall.

“The entire mural process was truly a community building experience. All participants were actively involved in the process of planning and creating the school mural,” said Alicandro. “The energy the mural brought to our school during this time was nothing less than amazing.”

It was certainly a day to remember for the students, parents, staff and local residents.

“We wanted to celebrate culture, and the students used art to truly bring out that message,” stated Jeremy Delerio, executive director of Thrive.

This project was especially directed at schools with a large population of English language learners, the grant coming through the Cultural Immigrant Initiative.

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