Hallway Art Aims To Inspire Glen Rock HS Kids To Read

GLEN ROCK, NJ - A hallway in one section of Glen Rock High School recently got a makeover, thanks to a group of teachers.

English teachers at the school unveiled a graphic art installation above lockers in the English Department hallway they hope will inspire students to read. The 16-panel display features prints of book covers, themes and quotation from literature taught in high school.

The project, which was almost a year in the making, was inspired by Mundelein High School in Illinois,

At the school – which is located just outside of Chicago - a few English teachers had huge vinyl prints made of some of the novels that they taught in an effort to spark student interest in books.

Around the same time that the English department talked about doing something similar, a parent, Alison Bloomfield, contacted department chair Pat Mahoney about the same project.

After their first meeting with Phil Paradise, they realized that the full wall book covers done at the Illinois project would not fit the available wall space in the upstairs D-hallway where almost all of the English classes meet.

However, Paradise thought they could make good use of the available wall space above the lockers. At this point, Anthony Ranieri joined the project, and he drew up several different proposals. English teachers Peggy Todd and Pat Mahoney met with Anthony and Phil several times throughout the summer and fall, and decided to go with the proposal: a total of 16 panels of a combination of book covers and quotations from books organized according to several key themes and motifs such as justice, courage, love, and belonging.

The entire English department then worked together to determine the key themes, book groupings, and appropriate quotations.

“I am so excited to see this project come to fruition as it has been a real labor of love for me and, I think, for everyone who has collaborated on this project. We hope that it encourages our kids to be curious about the books that they will be encountering in high school, and hopefully, the project will inspire everyone to read,” Mahoney said.