Blue School State of Mind
Read this educator's feedback from her experience creating an Action with her school in New York City!
How was your experience with Inside Out?
I loved working with the Inside Out team that assisted us with our group action - they were so kind and fun! We also had a lot of fun doing the install. We had a dedicated group of parents and teachers/staff that assisted us getting the posters up. Teamwork like this allows for deeper connections between people. A few people that passed by recognized that this was JR's work and commented on how cool it was. To say everyone in our community loved it, is an understatement! I think the joy it brought to everyone that came by was my favorite part.
Young participant posing with their portrait.
What was the impact of your group action? How did people react? Was it meaningful to your participants and community? Did it make an impact on the issue or message you were communicating?
I could literally feel the joy and awe of everyone who came by to see our portraits. Everyone was so grateful that we were able to do this group action. Our beloved Blue School was about to permanently close and seeing everyone up on the wall together like that really made us feel connected. Even though we will no longer have this school we will all remain connected through this shared experience and will be able to take all that Blue School has taught us out into the world. I would say this group action significantly helped all of us in our final days together - lean into our joy and gratitude and minimize the sadness. Thank You, Inside Out!!!
Did you encounter any issues while doing the project? If yes, how did you solve them?
We could not get the developer to respond to our Email requests to paste the posters on the construction wall across the street...so we decided to use glue dots and tape to put them up...so they could easily come down should the developer ask us to take them down. It rained so the next morning we had to go back and re-tape some of the portraits, but it was a fairly smooth process and the Inside Out team was incredibly supportive through the whole process.
Parents and teachers installing student portraits.
Do you have any advice for future group action leaders?
Do it!! It will be so fun and rewarding for your community. Get one dedicated person to take photos of the whole process for you.
Do you have any other feedback for the Inside Out Project?
Just gratitude for giving our community this moment!!
Participants celebrating their pasting with parents, teachers and school faculty.