THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 23, 1994 TAG: 9410210357
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 08 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Education
SOURCE: BY ELIZABETH THIEL, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 53 lines
It was the only time 9-year-old Ashley T. Brewer would ever be allowed to paint on her school's walls with impunity, and she made the most of it.
She spread out her pigment-slathered hand and slapped it onto the white cinder block wall of Sparrow Road Intermediate's cafeteria.
A little more than a week later, the fourth-grader's print is still there, along with the mitts of her 531 schoolmates and the school's nearly 45 staff members.
The handprints line the room at window level in alternating light and navy blues, with fingers reaching toward the sky. It's a little bit of planned graffiti, designed to brighten up an otherwise average school cafeteria, said Principal Debbie Hunley-Stukes.
Superintendent C. Fred Bateman rolled up his shirt sleeves and added his prints Monday.
``He's part of the team,'' Stukes said.
The school's theme this year is ``School Teams: The Golden Tool for Success.'' Stukes and her staff wanted a decorating idea that also would incorporate the team concept.
``They have a hand in the school,'' Bateman said.
``They have a mark in history,'' Stukes said.
Stukes said students who enroll in the school during the year will have a chance to add their handprints to the wall.
It was no easy job to plan the human border.
Teacher assistant Patsy Billups and Chapter I math teacher Linda Smith counted all the cinder blocks around the cavernous room, calculating how many handprints could fit and how much paint would be needed.
Assistant Principal Cheryl Pettway, along with some parent volunteers, helped apply paint to student and staff hands and press the paint-covered hands onto the walls. It took close to a week to get everyone's print finished.
``It was definitely a community effort,'' Stukes said.
Now, she said, ``Every child knows where his or her handprint is.'' After school, parents migrate to the cafeteria to view their children's manual art.
``Everybody has a little ownership,'' Bateman said. ``That's good.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by STEVE EARLEY
Cheryl Pettway, assistant principal at Sparrow Road, gives
Superintendent C. Fred Bateman a handful of paint so he can help
decorate the cafeteria.
by CNB