Student Council sponsored project to give TJ some added color.
by Vince Crespin
photo by Manny Perez
For many years the Thomas Jefferson halls have been a mixture of boring gray brick and plain drywall throughout the school; however, Student Council is currently trying to start a new fundraiser that will beautify the school.
The idea is to let students, regardless of class, have a chance to take part in brightening up the school by decorating a tile, which will then be put up throughout the school’s halls. The tiles, 8-inch by 8-inch squares, can be decorated to the student’s liking. It can have a person’s name, graduation year, or a meaningful message, as long as it is school appropriate.
The project, which was actually suggested by Leigh Montgomery (a parent of three students at TJ: Michael, Mitchell and Abbey) and was inspired by the same sort of project that she was in charge of at Slavens K-8 school, is designed to raise money for each respective class. Each tile costs $25, $15 of which goes to the class that each student represents. In return for that $25, students get the special glaze paint that stays on the tile, and are then free to decorate their personal tile. Once completed the tiles are “fired”, which hardens the paint and makes it stick. After that is completed, a glaze is added over the paint to give it a glossy finish. The tiles are stored in TJ Art Teacher Brooke Stoyer’s class (room 2) where students are able to go in and work on them during the advisement periods on Wednesdays.
Stoyer believes that the tiles can really add some color to TJ’s bland interior. “I think this new project is terrific. It helps support your class with money, you support the arts, and you get to leave a piece of you behind with your school.”
Stoyer, who has been an art teacher at Thomas Jefferson for seven years now, has a few ideas of her own for the project. “In my class I teach grid drawing, that we often do as a class. I think it would be nice to do a grid tile mural, which is a collection of tiles by different students that make a single item or picture, at the entrance of the school, as a new way of saying ‘welcome to TJ’.”
While there have only been four tiles created by students so far, Principal Sandra Just thinks the project has a lot of promise. “I have high expectation for this project in a couple of regards. One, I hope to beautify the school and get something new up in the halls other than athletic pictures. Also, I hope it serves to unite this school, so we can see some creativity and the great artistic ability of our students.”
To purchase your tile, contact Brooke Stoyer in room 2. Once $25 is paid, students will be able to start decorating tiles immediately.
