Around 1,200 Gravette students gathered on the Gravette Middle School practice field September 15 for a district-wide International Dot Day celebration. Kindergarten through sixth-grade students, along with seventh- and eighth-grade art students, held individual dot artwork in an attempt to connect them all into one extremely long mural.
International Dot Day is inspired by Peter H. Reynolds’ book The Dot, which encourages students to begin creating even when they are unsure where to start. Last year, about 1,000 students from Glenn Duffy Elementary and Gravette Upper Elementary formed one giant human dot, a project the book's author shared on social media. This year, the team of art teachers from each school expanded the celebration to include middle school students and set out to see just how far that dot could stretch.
Planning began weeks in advance and artwork began almost as soon as school started. On September 15th, art teachers, classroom teachers, administrators, and PTO volunteers helped guide students into positions from oldest to youngest, each holding their contribution to the mural.
It's never easy to get little ones to stay still for something this long, literally and metaphorically. Kindergarten students were released last to shorten their wait, while older students showed patience as hundreds of younger classmates moved into position. When the perfectly continuous line proved challenging, the experience became a living example of the lesson in The Dot. Creativity often means trying something ambitious and adapting when plans don’t unfold exactly as envisioned.
Although organizers are not ready to claim the longest mural record after all, the celebration still brought approximately 1,200 students together for one shared piece of art. Our staff and students still deserve recognition for one of, if not THE, largest Dot Day gathering ever. Last year’s giant human dot to this year’s field-spanning mural shows that Gravette schools will continue to find bigger ways to make their mark.
Thank you to every student who brought their artwork, patience, and creativity to this year’s Dot Day celebration. We also appreciate art teachers Morgan Knuckles, Brandi Brown, Sybella Ifland, and Angela Howie for turning an ambitious idea into a district-wide experience, along with our administrators and staff who helped coordinate the day. A special thank you goes to the Gravette Upper Elementary PTO for helping guide students and support the event from start to finish. Projects on this scale only happen when many people contribute, and we are grateful to everyone who helped our students work together for something great
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