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Maria Pandolfi is using creativity and color to teach local youths respect for life starts at the smallest level.
Standing back from the wall in the hallway leading to the school’s cafeteria, the G.W. Childs Elementary School art teacher watches as four of her students paint a mural that promotes kindness toward animals.
"I will do some of the work, but I let the kids primarily do stuff," she said. "I really didn’t touch up their work because I really believe it has to be their work. This is not an adult mural."
The mural promotes non-violence toward animals, with the hope the message will resonate and carry into other facets of life, including a reduction in violence toward fellow human beings.
"We have to teach non-violence to these kids, that’s the most important thing," the resident of the 1900 block of Chadwick Street said. "The thing is if they learn kindness towards even tiny little creatures, then they’ll learn kindness towards each other. Someone who abuses other people — they start with animals."
In the spring, Pandolfi and Principal Alphonso Evans knew they wanted to liven up the space in the basement of the school at 1541 S. 17th St. Considering the heavy student foot traffic in the area, they decided a mural would have the most impact. Pandolfi’s packed schedule at the end of the school year pushed the project into the summer, but teacher and students alike had no qualms about the move.
Evans gave students from the school’s mentally gifted program, which Pandolfi helps teach, a year-long theme of showing kindness toward animals and sharing it with their fellow students. This inspired the mural, which Pandolfi said lays the foundation of anti-violence toward others.
Evans saw the mural as another outlet to educate the roughly 400 students attending the pre-kindergarten through sixth-grade school.
"I believe that a school should look like school," he said. "This was one of the lost areas. We looked at it to try to figure out what to do with it and decided to [paint a mural] down here to spearhead some educational environment in this area."
Rising sixth-grader Damion Welcome was chosen as the mural’s art director by Pandolfi in the spring, and sketched the concept using several different animals, such as those used for entertainment, like lions and tigers, and hunting, like deer and rabbits, and placed them in their natural environments.
"He’s a very talented artist," Pandolfi said. She then let Welcome select several other students to carry out the painting with supplies donated by MAB Paints of 1603 Snyder Ave.
Aug. 1 and 2, eight students painted the background and most of the animals, all of which Welcome hand drew on the wall. In the fall, grades three and up will help complete the painting.
Welcome also incorporated a large quote in the center that reads, "Humanity is judged on how they treat the smallest of its creatures," based on a similar quote by Ghandi painted on the wall in Pandolfi’s classroom.
"All of the animals we picked aren’t being treated right," Welcome said. The 11-year-old from 17th and Tasker streets was surprised Pandolfi chose him to head the project, but didn’t mind taking time from his summer vacation to work on it because he hopes to be a professional artist someday.
"That’s why I chose to come here — because I love art so much," he said of the project.
In recognition of Pandolfi’s efforts, which stretch far beyond the classroom, representatives from Animalearn — a nonprofit advocacy group that promotes awareness of the treatment of animals and strives to eliminate the use of animals in education — awarded her with its annual Humane Educator Award. The honor is given to one teacher and student each year who go above and beyond to create a climate of kindness, compassion and caring towards animals.
"We think that Maria’s efforts of teaching kindness and actually relating it not only to the animal community, but to humans, was criteria for why we selected her for the award," Animalearn Director Laura Ducceschi said.
Pandolfi creates and hands out awards to organizations or people who show acts of kindness toward rats or work hard for animal rights for Rat Chick Rat Rescue and Advocacy Group, her organization that fights prejudice toward rats. Pandolfi, the owner of seven "companion rats," was ecstatic to be on the receiving end.
"It really makes me feel as though I’m appreciated for what I do," the teacher said. "Not that it’s important to be appreciated. I do things because I really love being with the kids. I don’t even think about getting paid for this stuff, but it feels good when someone recognizes what you do."
To further support Pandolfi’s accomplishments, Animalearn donated a classroom supply of humane-themed educational books and computer software in her honor as part of her award.
The organization will return to the school in September — during a ribbon-cutting ceremony upon completion of the mural — to again honor Pandolfi for her award. Students involved will be recognized and all students will have their art on display.
Evans felt the award was long overdue for Pandolfi, who’s going into her fourth year at Childs.
"[She is a] very dedicated woman," he said. "She is an extreme activist for the welfare of animals and more importantly just for character-building. She volunteers much more time than she gets paid for during the school year by doing different projects with the children. She’s truly a dedicated educator."
Nicole Green, associate director of education for Animalearn, echoed Evans’ remarks.
"She definitely just goes above and beyond what any teacher I’ve seen does for her students and really instills that message of kindness to animals and compassion towards all creatures," she said.
For Pandolfi, the values she instills in others can be traced back to one simple mantra:
"I tell the kids that you could be the smartest person in the world or the richest person in the world, but if you’re not a kind person, you’re a nobody," she said.
