March 2014
Sixth grade students learned a lot about peace during their school excursion in May and they expressed their message of peace in paintings for International Peace Poster Contest in July. And then they decided to participate in Kids’ Guernica project to send their message of peace to all over the world and chose a few paintings among all of their peace poster paintings for the project. From November seven candidates were selected as executive committee members and they initiated to make a draft painting for Kids’ Guernica. The committee members pasted drawing papers together to make the preliminary drawing during break time and after school. Each of all the sixth grade students a painting of balloon, clover or white swan on a sheet of drawing paper and cut it out during art class.
In January, all the sixth graders painted the huge preliminary drawing and pasted their paintings of balloon, clover and white swan on it. The executive committee worked elaborately to modify it independently during break time and after school. As the final finishing, they added three dimensional big ribbon and woolen strings to connect each balloon and completed their Kids’ Guernica in the end of February.
The peace painting was displayed in their gymnasium for teachers and parents as well as other students of the school and in March. The impressive painting was used for the front cover of their graduation album.
All of the 45 sixth grade students worked together enthusiastically for this project without any senior students guidance. Especially, the committee member students created the first rough drawing and painted it even during break time and after school independently with little help of class teachers. The students’ strong will of creating their own peace painting and their collaborative commitment for the final event of their elementary school life really moved the two class teachers. This unforgettable experience will remain as a very important part of their mind and definitely be a base for the better future.
Message
This peace painting consists of a huge rainbow, hearts, many balloons, clovers, big hands and white swans. National flags, tasty foods and smiling faces in various countries in the pictures of balloons express a happy world with a huge beautiful rainbow for the background. The balloons on the right and left upper corners show something undesirable such as a sad face and a weapon, which white swans with hearts, “love”, are trying to take out. The lower part of the painting is covered with many four-leaf clovers symbolized happiness. Each clover and balloon has different shapes and it shows individual differences. All the strings from balloons are tied with a ribbon on a huge heart “love” represents a wish for one world and also the strings are gripped by hands of different ethnic groups. This big peace painting is created by participant students ’various wishes for peace.
Sixth Grade Class Teachers: Hidetaka Okui and Tomomi Oka
