On May 11, 2022, West Springfield Elementary School held a ceremony to reveal the new mural that will welcome students into the school every morning. Designed by artist Raman Singh with support from the WSES student body, the theme for the mural is “We See You, We Welcome You, You Belong Here.”

WSES students played an important role throughout the development of the mural. The entire mural planning process kicked off with students submitting drawings showing their own ideas about what it means to belong- both in the school and in the community. Mr. Singh took all of those ideas to develop two concepts for the mural. Students then voted on the concept they liked best. However, throughout the painting of the mural, Mr. Singh returned over and over to the drawings students submitted, and the final mural incorporates their ideas throughout.

In addition to the mural itself, Mr. Singh painted the phrases, “we see you,” “we welcome you,” and “you belong here” in the four most commonly spoken languages at WSES (English, Spanish, Korean, and Amharic) on three of the columns at the front entrance to the school. At the final mural reveal event, students added their handprints to the two remaining columns. The result is a mural that incorporates our students and their ideas and invites them all to see themselves in the mural.