Around the pOnD
a shared and lasting tribute TafT’S aNNuaL CoMMuNiTy SErViCE Day is an opportunity, notes
organizer and Global and Diversity Education Dean Jamella Lee, for Taft to both build new partnerships in the community and strengthen relationships with our existing service partners. In the case of Children’s Community School (CCS) in Waterbury, this year’s Service Day project not only reflected the depth of the ongoing relationship between Taft and CCS, but created a lasting and shared tribute to that partnership. The “Let It Be a Quilt” project was created by Taft art teacher Loueta Chickadaunce. Taft English teacher Kerry Bracco and eight Taft student volunteers assisted with the project’s execution. The team guided CCS students in grades K-5 through the process of creating their own personalized paper quilt squares. Taft students then took the artwork back to campus, organized it by grade,
and added artistic touches by designing the borders and unifying designs. The end result: a quilt for each CCS classroom, with a square crafted by and representing each member of the class. “I am most excited about this project because it gave us an opportunity to bridge art and service at Taft and in the community,” says Lee. “And what quilts represent—diversity or a coming together of unique, individual parts to form a wonderfully blended and special whole—speaks so beautifully to our partnership with Children’s Community School.” On December 11, the completed quilts were hung in Potter Gallery for a special show and celebration benefitting Children’s Community School. CCS students, board members, parents, and other community partners attended the reception celebrating the partnership and the project. j
CCS is a private nonprofit school educating waterbury’s underserved children in pre-k through grade 5. To learn more, visit www.ccswaterbury.org.