Created by a student at Somersfield Academy, used with permission

Bermuda’s ‘shelter in place’ restrictions were not far behind the lockdown in Italy. During a conversation back in March with my friend and colleague, Sharon Brown, Design teacher at Somersfield Academy in Bermuda, the idea for a graphic design project entitled Expression of Thanks and Hope was inspired and conceived. Through distance learning the IB MYP students learned graphic design skills in order to create their own posters to honour, recognize, support and give thanks to a variety of essential care workers in Bermuda, to express positive messages of hope and to encourage community safety. Sharon and her colleague, Kim Owens, had their students engage in research about the essential workers in their community, and reflect on their importance to inform their work.

I was recently welcomed as a guest speaker to the M4 Design class at the School. I Zoomed in from my home in Tuscany, Italy and I shared with the students my work promoting intercultural understanding in educational communities, and my collaboration with a local primary school to send messages of gratitude and hope to healthcare workers at our local hospital in Lucca. We shared our experiences living through the coronavirus pandemic, and I was delighted to celebrate their creative, thoughtful and heartfelt project to make a positive difference in their community.

On reflection the students liked doing a cool graphic design project combined with a serious message about something meaningful. They wanted their posters to help keep people safe, highlight the hard work that essential workers do and inspire hope. And they succeeded!

This article was published in The Royal Gazette and reflects the students’ learning.

You can visit the students’ online “galleries” to view their posters displayed on class padlets. Click on the links below and if you like, please leave a comment.

M1 posters
M2 posters
M3 posters
M4 posters

When we express our gratitude to others we, too, are uplifted, inspired and hopeful. It helps makes the saying “Andrà tutto bene, Everything will be all right” possible!

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