When I Grow Up

Our Professor showed us a video of a TED talk that featured Candy Chang and her idea of a "Before I Die" chalkboard wall. She created this wall in and abandoned building in New Orleans in order for people to share their ideas and thoughts. Surprisingly, the wall filled up in one day. Inspired by her project, my classmates and I have decided, with permission granted from the school principal, to create a chalk-board wall in the elementary school stating "When I Grow Up I Want to..." The purpose of our project is to motivate children into thinking of their futures and allowing them to set goals for themselves. The Sweetwater community mostly consists of low-income hispanic community. Most of the parents are not involved in their children's education due to having multiple jobs. Many of the parents do not have any college degrees and this has not allowed the children to know of all of the endless career choices there are. By creating this fun wall, the children will not only begin thinking of their futures but it will also serve as a fun motivator in the school. If the environment of the school is fun and attractive to the children, they will become more motivated to do better in their studies. We want to create something inspirational, fun, motivating, and mind-opening for the children and this chalk-board wall is something that has proven to work. Aside from the wall, we would also like to create a garden at the entrance of the school. The reason for this is to give an appealing environment for the students, teachers, and families. The better the teachers and student feel about their environment, the better each one will perform.

Funded by Miami, FL (January 2014)