You may have been wondering why you received paper fish in your Wildcat class recently along with the instructions to color the fish however you wish. The Art Club has announced that this year’s project is about inclusivity and diversity in our school.

All of the fish that were returned to Wildcat teachers are to be a part of this huge art piece to be displayed in the commons so that all persons in our building will be able to enjoy it.

The fish are meant to represent each person and their uniqueness to show that every single person (or fish) in our community comes together to make a school.

There was a second option, too. Students who were unable to color a fish had the second option to write a letter. It could be any kind of letter, a letter to yourself, a loved one, advice, experience, etc.

Regardless of which part of the project you chose to partake in, the fish and letters will be going into the commons and used in the project.

Not only will there be all the colorful fish, but the Art Club is also working on making a giant Manta Ray to be a centerpiece for the school of fish.

After talking to Art Club President, Maya Pearce, we are better able to understand how the idea came to be. “We kind of just talked to the art club as a whole and took down ideas. The school of fish just so happened to be one that we all really liked. It was important to us all that we did something inclusive with the addition of the freshmen to our campus and so we really honed in on that.”

She goes on to add, “To me, this project represents how unique every individual student is. No fish is going to be the same, even if they’re designed by the same person. It shows how different people are but how we can still all work together at Fruita Monument.”

Building off of that, Art Club has invited all students and their families to come on February 5th and February 12 to participate in the creation of the project.

The vision behind the project, and the hope for its impact as stated by Paige Balzer, (a member of the art club) is this: “The whole idea surrounds belonging at FMHS and in the community, having everyone make a fish that can be a part of an entire ‘school’.”

As stated by Balzer, the ultimate goal of this project is to show how many different and unique humans we have here at Fruita Monument, not one of us is the same and that is something to be embraced.

Art Club has put a lot of time and effort into the planning and execution of this project. They’re hoping to have it done soon so that all students who participated can see the final product.