Darlington's English 2 classes focus on a theme of identity throughout the course. In order to understand and analyze what identity is, we needed to thoroughly explore what it means. One of the ways we did this was through a mural project.
First, the students each wrote a poem inspired by Zachary Caballero's "When You Say My Name." This spoken word is an example of how different cultures take pride in their name, heritage, and how that creates a sense of pride and honor. Students were tasked with creating a poem that explores their identity through their culture and heritage. The poems were representative of their identity in their family and culture.
After completing their poem, they each made a mirrored image collage of themselves that reflects who they are. These miniature murals were supposed to be reflections of how they see themselves, like they are looking in a mirror. This task focused on the exploration of self identity. The final product of our exploration of identity was identity in a community. We discussed how each of us were very different but yet we have things in common. The differences that the students have are what define who this community (in our class) is. Each of the students worked very hard on their project and they worked together without my assistance to design, create, and finalize their murals.
The mural with the tiger paw titled "Borders that Melt" was created by 5th period. The class wanted to create a mural that represented each of them through the creation of a personalized square. Each of the different squares around the border represent the culture, likes, and identity of that one specific student. The theme of their mural was "Individual differences unite us for a greater cause." The class wanted to emphasize how they were all individually unique but they all came together to be a Darlington Tiger in every sense by putting Wisdom More Than Knowledge, Service Beyond Self and Honor Above Everything.
The mural with the jersey in the middle titled "Better Together" was created by 7th period. The class wanted to create a mural that was more figurative in the way they blend their identities together. The colors in the background are all symbolic of different meanings: purple - Darlington Tigers, yellow - happiness and positivity within the community, blue - tranquility and peace with others, green - growth we continue to experience, orange - desire to learn from others. Each student's hand print is on the mural, which represents each of them being a part of a greater community. They were all the same color to represent the melting of individual identities to be a part of something much larger and greater. The writing at the bottom of the mural has a word translated from each of the languages spoken by members of the class: Portuguese, Spanish, Korean, Chinese, German, Patwa, and English. The sentence reads, "We come together to better ourselves and each other."
