Carasiti Elementary Students Make Community Mural

Press release from the Rocky Point School District:

Nov. 13, 2021

Students in Jennifer Meschi’s class at Frank J. Carasiti Elementary School have been learning about communities. As part of the unit, they read “Maybe Something Beautiful” by F. Isabel Campoy and Theresa Howell, in which the community got together and created a mural to beautify an area in San Diego, California.

After reading the story, the first graders were inspired to create their own mural. They collaborated and decided to create a mural inspired by the combined towns of the school district: Rocky Point, Sound Beach and Miller Place. They brainstormed which buildings should be in the mural and added vehicles, birds, trees and even themselves. They used construction paper, paint, colored pencils and crayons to create a final masterpiece.

To keep in the spirit of the book, Mrs. Meschi thought of an additional way to teach the children that even at their age they can give back to their community.

“I noticed a few vacant store fronts on my drive to and from school every day and thought they could use a little beautification with our mural,” she said. “I reached out to the real estate agent for one of the buildings to see if we could hang our mural in the window. He was so kind to call the owner of the building, and I was so excited that the owner said yes!”

The real estate agent, Bob Batuyios, opened the building for Mrs. Meschi to hang the mural. She invited families to meet her and stand outside of the building while it was being hung in the window.

The mural will be on display for several weeks. Mrs. Meschi thanks Mr. Batuyios and the building’s owner, Anthony Bongiovanni, for truly showing what community means.

This press release was produced by the Rocky Point School District. The views expressed here are the author's own.