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<\/p>\nFor art teacher Michael Pedri, who has taught at the school since 2008, the artwork is about giving students a sense of ownership over their school. And it\u2019s part of a larger mission that Pedri believes has become increasingly important in recent years.<\/p>\n
\u201cI used to think of myself as an art teacher,\u201d Pedri said. \u201cNow I\u2019m more of a creativity teacher with an art focus.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a world where children increasingly spend their free time on screens, and artificial intelligence can generate images and answers almost instantaneously, Pedri worries that young people are losing opportunities to exercise their imaginations.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He believes when children aren\u2019t constantly entertained or given instructions, they have opportunities to daydream, imagine, experiment, and come up with ideas of their own.<\/p>\n
He points to a memorable scene from the movie Apollo 13, in which NASA engineers must improvise a solution to save astronauts stranded in space using only the materials available aboard their spacecraft.<\/p>\n
According to Pedri, that scene is creative thinking at its best. He believes it\u2019s a skill that students will need regardless of what the future brings.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhatever solutions that we need to come up with tomorrow, we can\u2019t use yesterday\u2019s answers for,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Pedri\u2019s commitment to creativity was tested in an intensely personal way several years ago.<\/p>\n
His daughter, born in 2020, experienced serious medical complications that eventually required a bone marrow transplant.<\/p>\n
She remained hospitalized for approximately four months before returning home in March 2024. Today, Pedri says, she is healthy and thriving.<\/p>\n
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During that difficult period, Pedri struggled to balance his responsibilities as a father and a teacher. Looking for a way to continue contributing to the school while navigating his family challenge, he approached school leaders with an idea: photography.<\/p>\n
With their support, he began photographing students, printing large portraits, and installing them in frames along a school hallway. What started as a creative outlet grew into a gallery of approximately 40 to 50 photographs, turning an ordinary hallway into a celebration of the students who bring the school to life each day.<\/p>\n
For Pedri, photography offered the lessons he spent years trying to teach his students: creativity can provide an opportunity to work through a challenge and make something meaningful out of difficult circumstances.<\/p>\n
Beginning around 2010, Pedri started working with students to create murals and other large-scale artwork throughout the school. His goal was to help students see themselves as creators of their environment rather than just occupants of it.<\/p>\n
One particularly memorable project began in 2019, when students experimented with creating small pieces of textured art using buttons, beads, and other found objects. Each participant assembled a roughly four-inch square, arranging materials into patterns, colors, and shapes. The pieces were then hardened and combined into larger panels. The result was a collaborative artwork in which dozens of individual contributions became something much bigger.<\/p>\n
To explain his approach, Pedri points to an unusual Japanese art form called dorodango.<\/p>\n
The process begins with dirt.<\/p>\n
Artists moisten soil, shape it into a ball, and patiently polish it until the surface becomes smooth and sometimes remarkably shiny. The material itself hasn\u2019t changed. It\u2019s still dirt. But the time, attention, and effort invested in transforming it make the finished object meaningful to the person who created it.<\/p>\n
Pedri sees a similar transformation when students help create artwork for their school.<\/p>\n
Just as a simple ball of dirt becomes something worth treasuring through the creative process, an ordinary school building becomes a place students can take pride in because they\u2019ve helped shape it.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a lesson Pedri understands on a personal level. During one of the most difficult periods of his life, he turned to creativity to find a way forward. Now, through murals, photography, and countless other projects, he\u2019s helping students discover that same power for themselves.<\/p>\n
So don\u2019t call Mr. Pedri an \u201cart teacher.\u201d\u00a0 Call him a \u201ccreativity teacher\u201d who is helping children recognize that they have the ability to transform the world around them.<\/p>\n
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