Tuesday, March 19, I got word from my college that a middle school in my area needed help with an art project they were putting on for their students. It was for the No Place for Hate Campaign (NPFH) in City Heights.

They let me know the goal with NPFH is to “create respectful, inclusive, and safe learning environments and community, build personal understanding of the value and benefits of diversity, improve inter-group relations, eradicate racism and all forms of bigotry, and encourage personal responsibility in the promotion of justice and equity.“

I was excited to participate! They explained to me that the “Chalk Walk” would work like this: they will outline 2X2 spaces on the blacktop for the 3^rd, 4^th and 5^th grade students to design. Students will be encouraged to create art that depicts the issues they have been discussing all year. Issues related to bias, prejudice, stereotypes, discrimination, name-calling and bullying.

They just needed help with the No Place for Hate logo in a 4’x4′ square. They needed to create it using only chalk. The only catch was that the drawing had to be done after school hours and needed to be done on the same day. They had two schools and they would love a splash of creativity.

In the end we both decided on the logo with the peace sign shown in relief in the background, and I started drawing and cutting out my stencil. I wanted to make sure I got the text the right size and was able to execute it in the short time span. In the end it all came out perfect and I was really happy to help out the school.

On the day of the event I packed my dog, Biggy, in the car and invited my friend, Casandra, to come and help with the coloring in of the stencil. We sat in the sun and colored in the chalk stencil while the sounds of kids played in their after school groups echoed through the play ground. It was fun and in the end it looked great.