Messages Of Unity Replace Graffiti Outside McKinley School

FAIRFIELD, CT — Less than a week after McKinley Elementary students encountered vandalism outside their school, they received a much different surprise — messages of kindness and unity, artistically rendered along the school sidewalks.

Students discovered Tuesday on the school’s front walkway chalk drawings of hearts, rainbows and flowers, and words encouraging them to “be a light in the darkness” and reminding them there is “unity in our diversity.”

The happy surprise was the result of a collaboration between several Fairfield high school and middle school groups. The organizations came together after graffiti that said “United States of China” and “Biden For Socialism” was reported to police Jan. 13 on sidewalks near the school and a snow mound in the parking lot.

“For that to happen, we just wanted to make sure that that memory was just replaced with something else,” said Margaret Capron, an art teacher at Fairfield Warde High School, who helped organize the effort with Warde English teacher John Whaley and Fairfield Woods Middle School gym teacher Molly McHugh.

More than 100 people turned out Monday — Martin Luther King Jr. Day — to brighten up the grounds at McKinley. Participants included members of Youth for Equity of Fairfield Ludlowe High School, Fairfield Warde Voices for Equity, the National Art Honor Society at Warde, the Beloved Community Book Club at Fairfield Woods, and parents and community members.

The chalk artists used McKinley’s motto, “we are family,” as inspiration.

“We just wanted to send them messages of community, inclusion, love, celebrating diversity,” Capron said.

McKinley Principal Teresa Gingrave said the project was “a breath of fresh air.”

“To have them take their time on Martin Luther King Day and be able to express messages of unity and peace and harmony is just wonderful, especially during these times when there’s such a divide in our country,” she said. “Students were ecstatic to see the messages and read the messages, and it generated a lot of good dialogue.”