A beautiful garden has popped up at EJR! It was a collaboration with every student in every grade and is now a colorful reminder to all of our growth mindset.

Heidi Meier DiPonio is the visual arts educator at EJR. Since she teaches the entire student population – more than 500 students – she facilitated this project. The idea came from one of the summer meetings to make a collaborative art project, having all students contribute to the mural. They had created a school-wide garden in spring and decided to make one out of paper for the fall so they could enjoy it indoors all winter long.

 

The project themes were different for each grade:

• Grade 5 – Sculpture Inspired by Nature
• Grade 4 – Magical Mushrooms
• Grade 3 – Value Tissue Paper Flower
• Grade 2 – Radial Designs
• Grade 1 – Folded Tulip and Pattern Flower
• Kindergarten – Loop Flowers
• Pre-K – Concentric Circle Flower

 

The administration at EJR shared the growth mindset message with Ms. DiPonio and she shared it with all of the students. Here is the mindset model they used:

 

MINDSET

• Mistakes are how I learn
• Improvement means a little better each day
• Never stop learning
• Determination will get me through anything
• Success doesn’t happen by accident
• Effort is how I overcome challenges
• Things are difficult before they are easy

 

“During these times of the pandemic and the importance of social emotional health, it was a good time to connect about skills that we not only learn in the art room, but life skills and a growth mindset that will help us in our everyday challenges,” said Ms. DiPonio.

This mindset model is not just emphasized in art. The students are reminded about this philosophy of a growth mindset in all subjects and situations.

“When students say they’ve made a mistake or that they can’t do something, I remind them about the Mindset Garden,” said Ms. DiPonio. “They understand we are all works in progress and with time and practice we will grow as individuals and together.”