Kids Pieced Special Mural Together In Chester

CHESTER, NJ — A Bragg Elementary School teacher found a creative way to teach her third grade students about the works of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Students in Lauren Scarfo’s class learned about King in honor of this year's MLK Day in a hands-on exercise, by crafting a puzzle mural, Scarfo told Patch in an email. In past years, students wrote essays based on King’s “I Have a Dream” speech.

She felt with the pandemic, it was important for students to enjoy a group activity instead.

“Students collaborating to work together and learn with one another is very important to me and, I feel, very important to kids this year because of the last few years they've had,” Scarfo wrote. “I thought a puzzle mural would be a good way to work together but still be safe in school.”

The kids, however, did not know what they were creating, until Scarfo later revealed the final project.

The puzzle mural was a component in the third graders’ Prejudice Reduction Curriculum and Civics, Government and Human Rights Curriculum, she said.

The class read “Good As Anybody” a book about King by Richard Michelson, along with making the mural, Scarfo said.

With the project itself, Scarfo said she allowed students to chat about what colors they were picking and to guess what the end result may be.

The project idea came from a template she found on a teacher’s website www.teacherspayteachers.com.

The mural’s reveal was at the end of the school day. Scarfo had put the mural together, unbeknownst to the students, during their free time.

“I honestly had a great time watching them collaborate in this way,” she said. “They each seemed so proud of their little square as it made the whole puzzle and to let them organically ‘come together’ on a project instead of ‘preaching’ togetherness was the biggest take away.”

“Lauren Scarfo is one of our exemplary third grade teachers who makes us proud each and every day,” Chester School District Superintendent Christina Van Woert wrote to Patch about the project.

Questions or comments about this story? Have a news tip? Contact me at: jennifer.miller@patch.com.