Sixth Grade Friendship Quilt at Brooklyn Center Secondary School: Building Community Through Craft

Authored by Marissa Heim

Three quilt panels from the Friendship Quilt. Each panel is made of cardstock, decorated with markers, crayons, and pencils, and connected to other panels using yarn. Each panel represents a single student. In this image, one student’s panel expresses that playing (misspelled as “palying”) and having a house make him happy. In another panel, a student names a specific teacher as a source of happiness.

While education systems unjustly underserve students of color, tenacious and creative teachers and librarians are working hard to strengthen their school communities. At Brooklyn Center Secondary, one example is a larger-than-life, colorfully connected friendship quilt. 

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