by Ayana Powell
As the mural collaboration at Linden SDA with Rego Park Green Alliance has reached the three week mark, our juniors the sixth graders, with our help, have shown a lot of progress in both their teamwork skills and their stenciling skills.
Our classes collaborated on practicing painting over or stencils, as well as gathering more information from interviews of their teachers and adults around the community. After gathering the reasons and places that people went through the shadow transit service, the students designed more stencil designs to be cut out and superimposed unto their designs.
The eighth grade community journalists, myself included, from the STEAM for Social Justice Program went around the neighborhood of Laurelton to local business owners along Merrick Boulevard to advertise the mural painting day at the Long Island Railroad. We also offered them a business opportunity in which they could add an opportunity in which they could add write articles about their businesses or events for Laurelton.nyc.
On April 5th, 2017, Ms. Alissa Semple, the community journalism facilitator, Ajani Semple, D’Anthony Harris, and I, Ayana Powell (news team A) went to multiple businesses, including a local barbershop on Merrick Boulevard, Celebrity Cutz, a Copy King, the Jamaican Breeze Buffet and lounge, and a baby shower place. These owners were really helpful and decided to paste our flyers in their windows to advertise the word about the mural painting day. We hope that the word will be spread out to the community successfully.
The mural is important because of the economic importance of the community. It brings in revenue, culture, and flair to Laurelton. Something as simple as transportation does a lot for the neighborhood that we have come to know and love. Since 1980, after the MTA transit strike when local residents began driving their own minivans to take people to and fro, the dollar van system has been an important part of Laurelton.
Our stencils, with smaller intertwined images of different narratives from community residents, will shed light on the service and symbol of economic development that we may take for granted. Our painting day is scheduled for Sunday, May 7th, 2017, and we are all excited to paint our stencils and make our mark (literally) on Laurelton in a major way.
