Our Family Writing Project mural began several years ago with a set of human figures surrounded by tiles that were handpainted by families in the project.

The tiles, of various sizes, all convey ideas and images that are meaningful to families and students of John C. Fremont Middle School.  Here are the After School Scribes, our after school writing club, painting tiles to add to the mural in school year 2005-6:

And, some examples of this year's tiles in place on the wall. . . 

Here are some close ups of tiles from this year's Scribes:

The mural has grown -- A LOT -- since we began!

 Above: Before the Birthday Message.......and.......AFTER!

It was only a matter of time before the mural on the wall spilled over to the community garden.  In school year 2005-2006, both our Family Scribes and the After School Scribes worked to decorate the walls of our community garden on the campus of Fremont Middle School with images and messages that communicate positivity and encouragement.

Before the Scribes got to work (above), and then, after (below)

About the Garden and Mural, by Rachel I.

Before, when I first came to Fremont and looked at the school, it looked ugly to me.  I was thinking, “is this the school that I am going to?”  It looked scary to me.

            Then, the Scribes got together with their parents and friends.  We combined our ideas for the mural and the garden.  It looks nice now, thanks to us working together for the school.  We did a great job on the garden wall.  I love it.  It is great.  Now, nobody can say that our school is ugly!

The full mural is now over sixty feet long.  It has five sections.  Each has its own imagery and meaning, as designed by students and family members.

Section one, going from left to write, was created this year.  Designed by Cici, a student, section one has a celebratory feel. 

Section Two, with tiles and a couple human figures, is meant to capture some of the day to day realities of Fremont.   The human figures are students going to class.  Tiles in this section have imagery of places our students, their families, and our teachers have lived, from Kenya to Niagara Falls, from Nebraska to Las Vegas.

Section Three was the first part designed and painted.  In 2002, families from the Fremont Family Writing Project designed tiles about their lives, which they arranged along with human figures intended to represent the diversity of students and their families in the Fremont community:

Above: the center of the mural with a tile portraying Las Vegas' metamorphosis from a railroad town into the world's premier gamgling city.

Section Four contains tiles from this year's Scribes with well wishes to the school for its fiftieth birthday:

The mural's fifth section, like the first, wishes the school a happy birthday and emphasizes the family, student, teacher collaboration responsible for the entire project.