Gaining a world of knowledge
By Chris Simon

Juanita Germaine's class poses with the finished murals.

In two years, Marialicia Opazo's hard work will be on display for the world to see.

Along with about 20 classmates, the Goodfellow Public School Grade 4 student sketched and painted a mural of Little Fingerling, a traditional Japanese fairytale, Monday. The finished painting rests on the same large canvass as a Paperbag Princess mural completed by students at Asahi Elementary School in Ishikawa, Japan.

In 2010, the murals will be part of an international art exhibit that will be wrapped around the pyramids in Egypt, to celebrate UNESCO's Decade of Peace. Organizers hope to have 1,500 murals showcased.

"Other people around the world get to learn Japanese culture," said Opazo, as a few of her classmates put the finishing touches of paint on their mural. "I liked this idea."

The project is part of the international Art Miles program, which helps students gain an understanding of other cultures, and make friends living in other countries. Students in Juanita Germaine's Grade 3 and 4 class collected fairy tales, toys and holiday videos, and shipped the items to Japan. In return, the Japanese students shipped a basket full of that country's pop culture products and fictional work to Goodfellow, said Germaine.

Goodfellow Public School students Shelby, left, and Emily paint a mural of Little Fingerling, a Japanese fairytale, Monday.

"This project offers the students of Goodfellow an opportunity to learn more about their world, and other cultures," she said. "They broaden their literacy skills as well as connect with another culture. In addition to the art mural, the students are also sharing games, books, toys, pictures and many other items."

Students also read various Japanese fairy tales, and placed the items sent from Japan in a display in Goodfellow's front foyer.

In total, three other Simcoe County District School Board classes are participating in the program. That includes classes from Bradford's W.H. Day and Fieldcrest and Barrie's Terry Fox public schools, said board representative Mali Bickley.

The murals will also be placed in the iEARN international conference in Uzbekistan in July, and to other major art exhibits throughout the world, she said.

"In the next two years, Simcoe County will be contributing more of these murals," said Bickley. "It shows them the world is a very small place; that everyone's connected. The countries aren't independent anymore, we're dependent on each other. The sooner they make the connections with the other countries, the better their whole life is going to be."

Gaining a better understanding of other cultures will benefit students once they graduate, she said.

"They're going to have to learn how to communicate in an appropriate way with other parts of the way," said Bickley. "By using this project, something as simple as fairytales and literature, it shows they're the same (as international students)."