Family History Quilt at JMMS

The installation of the first section of “Their Dreams Realized” is complete and ready for viewing. Several seventh grade students from the Green Team have contributed their panels towards the creation of the quilt. The quilt is based on our students’ family histories and the impact of the decision to immigrate to the United States. The students understood from the beginning that this would be a museum quality installation and that dignitaries would be invited to see it. As a result, the students rose to that challenge and created a wonderful piece of art. With that in mind, Ms. Groves, Mrs. Paolillo and the Green Team are proud to present “Their Dreams Realized” at Joseph Melillo Middle School.

The individual panels reflect the vast experiences and events witnessed by our students’ ancestors. We have a panel from the great grandchild of Gen. MacArthur’s bodyguard, one from a great grandchild of the first doctor in the New Haven Colony and another from a great grandchild of the man who founded Morris Cove. There are panels by grandchildren of those who escaped the Medellin violence in Colombia and the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia. Interspersed with all of those stories are police officers, doctors, lawyers, teachers and, significantly, steerage passengers. All of these tales blend to create the patchwork of our student population. Most importantly, these panels prove that our students’ ancestors would be proud of their descendants’ accomplishments.