Rushing out of the cafeteria, waves of kids filled the hallways of Meany Middle School, 301 21st Ave. The lunch bell signaled the beginning of the second half of their day, and students, some with half-finished soft drinks in their hands, went in different directions toward their next classes.
In their rush, however, some slowed their pace to peer at the large, ceramic banner that occupies a notable portion of the outer gymnasium wall. These kids are more than just onlookers: They are the creators of this masterpiece.
It took 1,000 pounds of clay, 16 bottles of glaze, 57 trips to the kiln and the hearts and hands of approximately 250 middle-school kids and 74 community volunteers. she saw natural leaders come out of the woodwork, sometimes from usually shy and introverted students.
According to Ray-Cocklin, the Book Wall also pushed the kids to read more and gave them valuable insight into the minds of the story's characters.
"If you can relate the story to what it meant to you, then your comprehension goes up that much further," Ray-Cocklin said.
Along with the ability to personally relate to the books, the students also developed artistic skills.
"The project appeals to different modalities. Kids that are normally not excelling in school suddenly had a chance to excel in this area of sculpture," said Robert Bernstein, the literacy coach at Meany. His job entails raising the literacy bar at the school, and the Book Wall, he said, did just that.
According to Bernstein, books that are featured in the book wall are constantly in demand at the school library. He believes that the Book Wall heightened the students' awareness of different types of books, and also whetted the students' reading appetites, even those who were struggling readers.
According to Krauter and Ray-Cocklin, the wall is likely to continue with banners focusing on science and math. They recall the unveiling of the wall with smiles of pride, much like the ones the kids wore when they saw their own artworks displayed for the entire school to see and admire.
"They pointed and said, 'That's my piece! This is the part I did!' That, for me, was success," Ray-Cocklin said.
Add in more than 1,800 total hours of work, and the Friends of the Book Wall at Meany Middle School was born.
Getting into the mix
The idea of the Book Wall was tossed around by two key players. PTSA board member Tracy Krauter and artist-in-residence Chris Ray-Cocklin wanted to get the kids involved in a project that would expose them to art and literature and also mix in an aspect of teamwork and community involvement.
Most of the funding for this project came from the city Neighborhood Matching Fund's Small and Simple Project Fund. The grant aids community-based projects, and since both Meany and its neighbor, Miller Community Center, use the school gymnasium, the Book Wall project met the criteria for the grant.
The project also received in-kind donations from individuals and businesses.
In total, it cost less than $8,000, which makes the wall "a major, low-budget piece," according to Ray-Cocklin.
As the artist-in-residence, Ray-Cocklin did much of the artistic planning before the kids got their hands dirty. She made a proportional blueprint of the wall and showed the kids how their pieces would fit into the big picture. Although her role as artist was a significant part of the project, she gives much credit to Krauter for leading the administrative aspects.
"The real power behind it is Tracy. She just decided to make it happen in this school, because this is a good school," she said.
Gaining momentum
At first, the Book Wall was meant to represent just one book, but as the project collected momentum, it became obvious to Krauter and Ray-Cocklin that one book was not going to cut it. With the help of librarian Susan Jenkins and other teachers, the Book Wall now boasts 10 books, as well as a section on good reading skills.
Each book is represented within one or more vertical sections of the large ceramic structure, which is then divided into three sub-sections. The top section relays an important value the group took away from the book, such as honor, confidence or hope. The middle section is for concrete objects found within the storyline, and the bottom section portrays one event in the book that held most relevance to that group.
The books ranged from Tupac Shakur's "Tupac Ressurection" to Lemony Snicket's "A Series of Unfortunate Events."
Some books were assigned to the kids by their teachers, and some were chosen by the kids themselves. Each group that interpreted a book consisted of kids in the same grade but not always in the same circle of friends. They were forced to go beyond their comfort zones and break out of their cliques, Krauter said.
"It helped me bond with people I never really got to know before.... One thing it taught me was to trust people," said a seventh-grade student.
A fruitful venture
Bonding and building trust are just a few fruits of the Book Wall. Krauter said that during the project, she saw natural leaders come out of the woodwork, sometimes from usually shy and introverted students.
According to Ray-Cocklin, the Book Wall also pushed the kids to read more and gave them valuable insight into the minds of the story's characters.
"If you can relate the story to what it meant to you, then your comprehension goes up that much further," Ray-Cocklin said.
Along with the ability to personally relate to the books, the students also developed artistic skills.
"The project appeals to different modalities. Kids that are normally not excelling in school suddenly had a chance to excel in this area of sculpture," said Robert Bernstein, the literacy coach at Meany. His job entails raising the literacy bar at the school, and the Book Wall, he said, did just that.
According to Bernstein, books that are featured in the book wall are constantly in demand at the school library. He believes that the Book Wall heightened the students' awareness of different types of books, and also whetted the students' reading appetites, even those who were struggling readers.
According to Krauter and Ray-Cocklin, the wall is likely to continue with banners focusing on science and math. They recall the unveiling of the wall with smiles of pride, much like the ones the kids wore when they saw their own artworks displayed for the entire school to see and admire.
"They pointed and said, 'That's my piece! This is the part I did!' That, for me, was success," Ray-Cocklin said.[[In-content Ad]]
