The mural project on the third floor began last year. This year, as students walk by they can see different important figures in history being painted onto the wall one by one.
The mural is a way to celebrate Latinos in STEM. This project came to fruition due to an assignment that Mr. Morest gave it to his US History class in December 2023. The original prompt of the assignment was:
“Your task is to write a proposal and deliver an in-class presentation for a mural to be painted at your school that includes individuals, groups and events from Latino American history in the United States.
Each group must submit a written proposal and deliver an in-person presentation on their Latino American mural concept.”
Running with the prompt, different people in his class grouped together to create their proposals. Once the proposals were created, each group presented their project to Ms. Rivera and Mr. Morest. Winners were chosen based on the proposal and presentation of each group, and the group that won consisted of AITE students Julia McPherson, Addie Wynot, Jacob Alcantra, and Valery Navarro.
Once the mural idea was selected, paint and people were needed in order to create the mural. The students reached out to Mr. Tomaszewski’s Painting and Drawing class for artists, and they submitted a grant to AITE PTSO to pay for the paint that they would need.
As of now, the mural is still in progress and set to be completed by around the end of this school year.
Below is the interview Rams’ Report members had with Mr. Morest.
- When did this project begin?
Students in my US History class started working on this project in November 2023. They gave presentations to the class, me and Ms. Rivera that December. Ms. Rivera chose the winners and I concurred. The students were Julia McPherson, Addie Wynot, Jacob Alcantra, and Valery Navarro. Addie is a senior this year; the others have graduated. Once the mural was selected, it took a while to find artists to create the mural. Mr. Tomaszewski said his Painting and Drawing class could do it, but they didn’t have the paint. So then we submitted a grant to the AITE PTSO to pay for the paint. Finally, this year Mr. Tomaszewski’s class started the painting phase of the project.
- How did the idea of the mural come to fruition?
The idea for the mural came from a project in my US History class. The project is the culmination of a unit in my US History class on Latino history. The students who created the proposal thought it would be cool to celebrate Latinos in STEM since we are a STEAM school. Another reason for the project is that, given that a majority of students in Stamford are Latino, I feel Latino history and culture are underrepresented in Stamford, Stamford Public Schools, and at AITE. This project is a step towards addressing that.
- How has the process of this project been so far?
It took a long time to get this project going, but once the painting started it has gone much more quickly.
- When do you estimate the project will be completed?
Hopefully before the end of the semester!
- What is the most interesting thing about this project?
I think one of the coolest things about this project is its interdisciplinary nature. Its subject matter is US History and STEM and it was completed by a painting class. There has been a lot of concern about AITE’s lack of a school culture. We need more art and displays in the building to boost our school culture! I would like us to do more projects like this one at AITE. Hopefully it won’t take as long the next time.
