Students, Teachers Celebrate Completion of 'Kapok Tree' Mosaic

Once in a rare while, a project that touches an entire school is undertaken, inspiring young minds and teachers in equal fashion.

At , one such project was the creation of a beautiful mosaic based upon the book "The Great Kapok Tree" by Lynne Cherry.

A special ceremony to dedicate the artwork was held at the school April 28, and was attended by the fourth grade students who created it, several members of the nonprofit educational foundation which funded it, teachers, administrators, parents and friends.

Saucon Valley Elementary School Principal Ro Frey welcomed guests to the elementary school auditorium, where she thanked the students for doing a "wonderful job" on the mosaic and introduced art teacher .

Roumeliotis, in turn, pointed out that the completion of the mosaic would not have been possible without financial support from the Saucon Valley Foundation for Educational Innovation, a local nonprofit organization that provides funding for projects that are "above and beyond" the ordinary scope of Saucon Valley schools' curricula.

"They gave us the opportunity to be able to make our mosaic a reality," Roumeliotis said.

Roumeliotis also thanked Gwen Singer for acting as a liaison between herself and the foundation, and artist Kim Hogan, who helped coordinate the mosaic project.

One of the highlights of the ceremony came when Roumeliotis held up a certificate stating that Saucon Valley students are responsible for preserving an acre of rain forest.

The students themselves raised the money needed to help preserve the land, and were inspired to help protect one of the Earth's most vulnerable ecological treasures by the book that also inspired inspired the mosaic, she said.

"The Great Kapok Tree," which was first published in 1990, tells the story of life in the Amazon rainforest.

It is a consciousness-raising story about the fragile ecology of the jungle environment, and how one man's decision to protect it can make a difference.

For recognizing and understanding that they too could make a difference, Roumeliotis said the fourth-graders "should be proud of themselves."

And many others in attendance seemed to agree.

"I will remember this always," Roumeliotis said to the students.

Another highlight of the ceremony was the reading of two essays by fourth-grade students who worked on the mural and learned a lot about the rainforest in the process.

Student Maddie Schaffer read from an essay in which she wrote about one of the jungle's most elusive dwellers--the jaguar--who she noted "depends upon the plants and the trees for its hiding place."

People, too, are dependent on the plants in the rainforest for the oxygen that we breathe, she pointed out.

"Next time you walk by the mural, look closely and try to find more living things that depend on the rainforest," Schaffer said.

Student Sarah Duffy, reading from her essay, said that the rainforest represents "the circle of life."

"I believe we can save the world by taking care of living things," she said.

The mosaic created by Duffy, Schaffer and their fourth grade classmates is now on permanent display in the hallway directly across from the elementary school office.

Fourth-grader Sydney Oskim said that, like her teacher Mrs. Roumeliotis, she will also have fond memories of working on the mosaic.

"I just loved helping out," she said. "It was so fun."