New York School Showcases 'Everyone is Welcome' Mural, Inspired by an Idaho Teacher's Vision

Originally published June 25 in
Idaho EdNews
.

An inclusive poster that was banned in West Ada classrooms – only to proliferate on T-shirts, yard signs and marquees as a form of protest – is now a permanent fixture at a school in Rochester, N.Y.

Two high school seniors, Luis Collazo and Lillian Brickman, were inspired by teacher Sarah Inama’s
refusal to remove her poster
and painted an “Everyone is Welcome Here” mural outside the main office of their school, Rochester’s School of the Arts.

“It is a predominantly Black and Latino school with a large queer population … We hope that (the mural) will be a source of strength and support for our community,” Brickman wrote to EdNews in an email.

Brickman said she and Collazo worked hard on the mural and consider it their senior gift to their school.

“I think it is very powerful that our school allowed us to paint this mural at a time when so many school districts are refusing to stand up for their students,” Brickman wrote. “It is especially contrasted by the West Ada District’s reaction to Sarah Inama’s sign, which inspired the design of our piece. Diversity and progress will triumph even in the face of systemic opposition!!”

Inama said she is “in awe” of the students and their mural.

“This is what it’s all about – making our spaces more welcoming and inclusive for everyone and if our students can do that for each other, that’s the most beautiful way,” Inama wrote in a statement to EdNews.

“This isn’t indoctrination – it’s the opposite – this is just an innocent and basic acceptance of others,” Inama continued. “I think students have a lot of power to keep this message going and make their spaces a place of belonging for all of their peers.”

Inama recently accepted a teaching position with the Boise School District and plans to hang up her inclusive signs in her new East Junior High classroom.