Kids Color the Walls With Imagination

"The response from the parents has been astonishing," said PTA member Brooks Belford, who headed the fundraising team. "It's probably because the whole school has gotten so excited about it. It's so cool for a parent to think their kid is creating this piece of art . . . that will be a part of the school for a generation."

Because the mural likely will hang for decades, Lewis was careful not to depict themes that could become dated. She did, however, bow to the students' desire to illustrate a cicada. It was a last-minute addition.

"The wall was screaming for something artistic. Something special," said Glebe Principal Sylvia Taub. "We talked about a lot of things, but this was the undertaking that was decided on."

Lewis admits that she had no idea how much work would be involved in making the mural, which will be 26 feet high and 28 feet wide. Hoping to gain some knowledge, she and arts committee chairwoman Lynn Westergren took a class taught by Ratinoff at Alexandria's Torpedo Factory. He signed on to help. But even then, she still had only a vague idea about the magnitude of the project.

Ratinoff's blueprint for the mural set her straight.

"He said, 'You're going to die when you see how big the mural will be,' " Lewis recalled. "When we saw it, we screamed."

But parents flocked to volunteer, and students were eager to participate, submitting more than 300 drawings for consideration. The mural's design was broken down into six sections, each containing elements offered by the students. Lewis drew the mural, but the animals and plants she used came straight from the children's drawings. One look at the toucan drawing submitted by Charles Massiah, 12, and you can see its near-identical reproduction in the mural.

"They can look at it and say, 'That came from me,' " Lewis said.

"It was a group effort," echoed Westergren. "It was everybody's baby."

Last week, students were winding up the glazing process. The mural had easily overtaken the small art room, where gallon bottles of glaze sat propped against the sink, dozens of boxes were taped up and ready to be driven to Ratinoff's Cheverly studio, and tables were covered in tiles ready for the last round of glazing.

Rather than use paintbrushes, students applied the glaze using small rubber syringes designed to put drops in a baby's ears but which let the students squirt color onto the tiles in one thick coat. The kindergarteners, who designed and worked on the lower half of the mural, which depicts flowers and underwater life, used a sponging technique that, after firing in a kiln, will create a mottled effect.

Fifth-grader Andrew Wisenberg, 10, was responsible for the mural's "Egyptian sharp-winged hawk," a bird he created from his imagination that soon will adorn his school's atrium.

Last week, he came in for his third chance to paint tiles, smearing them with a glaze that, once applied, looks a lot like fondant icing.

"You think this is cool?" a visitor asked.

Andrew nodded knowingly. "Yeah," he said. "Definitely."