New and Improved Gym Wall

Much to the delight of our phys. ed. teacher, our gym wall went from being a very boring white brick wall to this colourful masterpiece! This was another project that I did with the Grade 6 students, who were very proud to be leaving their mark in their elementary school, during the 2012-13 school year.

I met with the four graduating classes in January and introduced the project to them. They had to work in groups and decide which quotes they liked from the ones presented to them. The selection of balls represented the SSIAA school tournaments that our school participates in.

The next step was to mark out and paint the 4 1/2 feet x 4 1/2 feet squares.

Once the paint was dry, the balls and quotes were then projected onto the squares. The students took turns and came in groups to paint in their designated square.

Aside from having only one hour each week when the gym was free from activities, another difficulty that I encountered was that I needed to keep the paintings covered so that they would not get damaged. This meant that I had to continue to cover all of the squares every time that I had the students paint. I also wanted to keep the paintings covered until the big reveal!

 

Once all of the paintings were complete, I put two coats of varathane on top so that they would be protected from the various balls that regularly come in contact with the walls in a gym.

Everyone was very happy with the end result! It brightened up our previously dull gym and continues to provide positive words of inspiration in another location in our school.