D.C. Project
In fall 2011, students from eight Washington, D.C. schools—one school from each ward—created a piece for the mural that pays tribute to Americans who work in government jobs, including elected officials, teachers, postal workers, NASA technicians, and military personnel, among others.
The first sentence of the Constitution, with the founding principles as a launching point, served as a template for the project. Who are “we the people”? What would a more perfect union be? The goals of the project and for the students included creative thinking, expressing themselves in a way most meaningful to them, and for everyone participating to feel that he or she brought something personal to the project.
Working with the art department faculty in each school, Ellen designed the projects to best fit the students’ curriculum in an effort to combine what she was doing creatively for AMP with other areas of class study—from social studies and history to English, math, and science.
In May 2012, the eight schools came together to celebrate the finished project with an exhibit of their work at the Martin Luther King Memorial Library.
Participating schools: Barnard Elementary, Bell Lincoln Multicultural School, Cesar Chavez Parkside, Georgetown Day School, Hyde Addison Elementary, Maury Elementary, Paul PCS, and Capitol Hill Cluster Schools
