This year, Gatelot Avenue Elementary School welcomes the new addition of student-created murals. These beautiful, thought provoking murals were created through the hard work and creativity of all of Gatelot’s students.
Hung in the cafeteria, the paintings serve as a daily testament to kindness, teamwork, good deeds, and filling buckets. Students at Gatelot have learned what it means to be a “bucket filler” through the book, “Have You Filled a Bucket Today: A Guide to Daily Happiness for Kids” by Carol McCloud.
This inspiring story provides various insightful examples of how their kindness, appreciation and helpfulness can be personally rewarding to themselves, as well as emotionally satisfying towards others. The students collaborated on a very large mural depicting buckets being filled by other buckets, representing the ability of people to receive love and kindness from others.
At Gatelot, administration, staff and students would agree they are a family of “bucket fillers” and are very proud of the important character traits portrayed through the many murals they created. Art teacher Deborah Coyne and visiting artist John Diniro provided guidance and direction throughout the project.
During the week-long mural painting project, the students combined their creative efforts to create several more murals as well.
Inspired by the teachings of Stephen Covey, the students created another mural depicting “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People”, a teaching philosophy implemented across all disciplines.
Other messages displayed in the murals include “Gatelot shines with kindness” and “Together we can do anything,” with according works of modern art designed and created by the students hanging above.
These murals will hang in the school indefinitely, serving as a reminder of the power of teamwork, visible to students every day. They will remind them that together, they can do anything.
