ATC's new Appalachian Trail Journeys has an article on Graffiti this issue. This post by Alison is a great complement to the issue!
Post by:
Teacher, Grade 5
Seven Generations Charter School
We are in the investigation phase of our service learning
project now -- testing out methods for restoring vandalized boulders on the
trail. My students have identified several solutions they would like to
evaluate:
- spray painting over the graffiti (This is the current method used by the local conservancy group.)
- chisels and wire brushes
- power washing (We found a community partner with a power washing business!)
- biodegradable graffiti removal product (Aptly named "The World's Best Graffiti Remover")
The children plan to evaluate the effect of each method on
the environment, the effectiveness (is the graffiti gone?), the cost, and the
difficulty (energy factor). This week we are going up on South Mountain to
measure the distance from the boulders to the nearest access road, which we
believe may be on privately-owned land. That will add another step into our
plan, but we are prepared to contact that person if we need to. We also plan to
test the chisels and wire brushes while we are up there for a full-day hike.
On Wednesday we also have two unique opportunities to spread
our message against graffiti on the trails. On Wednesday morning we will be
presenting to our school (grades K-5) about the issue. Groups of students will
be teaching the school community a song about graffiti and performing a
skit/presentation regarding the issue. Then in the evening our school is having
an open house for the community in which we will display the work we've done so
far and ask for input from the community. We have a graffiti wall in our plan,
of course, with a clear message that there is a difference between graffiti ART
and graffiti VANDALISM. In addition, we created anti-graffiti t-shirts last
week, which display the message "AN EARTH THAT IS CLEAN IS
GRAFFITI-FREE" (designed by one of my students and reproduced on 45
t-shirts.) We designed one for each student in our class and an additional 22
for teenagers to wear to spread our message to their peers.
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