Community-Word Project

On Building Bridges: P.S. 84 and the Williamsburg Bridge

Recently I visited P.S. 84 in Williamsburg, Brooklyn and observed three diverse third-grade classes engaged in Community-Word Project’s arts programming. These students are building literacy and social studies skills through music, poetry and visual art. The students are learning about personification and landmarks by writing poems in the voice of the Williamsburg Bridge. The bridge is a New York landmark that can be seen directly from the windows of the school. The landmark comes alive when students transfer their poetry to bridge-masks created by Teaching Artist Felipe Galindo.

 Community-Word Project has a strong, six-year partnership with P.S. 84. Each spring CWP’s mural projects have become a significant part of the school culture. The collaborative mural painting is a vital community builder, bringing students, professional artists, parents, and corporate volunteers into the creative process. We are thrilled to partner with this school and it’s exemplary educational model.

P.S. 84 is receiving widespread attention for their newest project: a massive, rooftop hydroponic garden. Taking cues from the farm to table movement, students will learn to grow food from seed to harvest. CWP plans to bridge our arts program with this exciting new horticultural project by infusing green living and gardening into this year’s mural themes.

Thanks Thomas Hawk for the great shot of the Williamsburg Bridge

Megan Morrison, Program Director, Community-Word Project