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Students liven up sidewalk with pro-life messages, artwork
By Ambria Hammel, The Catholic Sun
October 18, 2007
MESA — It’s usually teachers who use chalk to illustrate a point, but students at Queen of Peace School took their turn earlier this month.
Students proclaimed the pro-life message Oct. 4 on the sidewalks surrounding their school, parish and city’s downtown area. The activity marked Respect Life Sunday, the first Sunday of October which kicked off an entire month devoted to recognizing the sanctity of life.
Organizers hoped parishioners and other passers-by would reflect on the images and messages.
“It’s going to be a good attention-getter,” said Angie Winston, a mother of seven children, five of whom are students at the school. She organized the event as a fun activity that “will get people talking and thinking.”
Deacon Richard Areyzaga, principal of Queen of Peace, noted one pro-life message an eighth-grader wrote: “My mom lost a child. For you to willingly kill is murder.”
“It was a time for her to grieve,” Deacon Areyzaga said.
“And think,” Winston added.
The students began thinking about the stages of a child’s life when coach Kevin McCloskey read “Angel in the Waters” during health class. The children’s story chronicles the life and growth of a baby — from a fetus to an infant.
“I want you to take your ideas from your heart and put your feelings on the sidewalk,” McCloskey told the students.
Some students promoted a drug-free lifestyle and respect for animals, but most chose to emphasize messages regarding the unborn child and abortion. The students filled up one or more cement tiles with messages in both English and Spanish.
“There’s a lot of things to say about it,” said seventh-grader Karly Sanders, who wrote several pro-life messages.
Her classmate, Erik Herrera, wrote five messages. One of them challenged readers to think about what life would have been like if their parents had sought an abortion before they were born.
Another encouraged adoption rather than abortion by simply writing “abortion” and changing two letters to spell “adoption.”
“If God wants a life to come into this world, then you should let it happen,” Herrera said. He noted that it’s better to save a life through adoption rather than aborting an unplanned pregnancy.
Some of the students chose one color to portray their pro-life message, while others used more for a shadow effect.
Seventh-grader Ericka Garcia said she used as many colors as she could find to write her two messages. She wanted it to stand out in a world that embraces color so that the words would resonate and possibly prevent an abortion.
When the students finished their messages, Winston rewarded them with Lifesavers candy. She believes in starting the pro-life talk at a young age and adapting activities as the students grow.
“Everybody has their own pro-life story,” Winston said. The artwork helped students tell that story to the community.
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