In November, 2006 I began working on a 240 foot storytelling mural called "Reading to Succeed" with the children at Glenwood School on the concrete block wall on the playground. Over 150 children had a chance to work at some level on the wall, from covering the graffiti with primer using rollers on extension poles, painting in shapes that I drew, to creating their own details. The high point was the first weekend of February when parents, staff and children from the Glenwood community came out Friday after school and Saturday morning to work together. Over 60 people showed up each day! It took us 6 weeks in all to finish the work and the mural transformed the playground completely. The effect it has had on us all is something beyond any of our expectations. It empowered the whole school community and sent me on a new journey when I retired the following June.
LESSON LEARNED: Always paint the background first then project the pictures on to the wall. It is way too time consuming to paint background around figures and lettering.
