Fundreds teach art as social justice, environmental awareness

Story by Joshua Cole; photos courtesy Peakview Elementary
(originally published in Jan. 21, 2010, Villager)


For many elementary school children, “art is just a picture on the refrigerator,” said Peakview Elementary School art teacher Darci Liley.

But at Peakview, students are learning the power of art in its historical significance and its appeal to create social awareness.

Since November, Peakview students, staff and parents have been creating “Fundreds.” An armored truck touring the nation is scheduled to pick up stacks of the cash, Jan. 29.

“Fundreds” are replacement bills – instead of Ben Franklin's picture on the front or the Capitol on the back, students are encouraged to draw their own faces and homes. When 3 million “Fundreds” are collected, artist Mel Chin, who created the program, plans to pull the armored truck to Congress and ask for $300 million to fix the lead-infested soil in New Orleans.

At the Jan. 29 Peakview assembly and “Fundreds” pickup, third-grade students plan on demonstrating to the rest of the school a process that cleans soil of lead, and the fifth-grade choir plans on singing a song about making a difference, Liley said.

“It's a very rich experience for these guys because it's teaching them about community, about social awareness, about the environment, and they get to be creative while they're doing it,” said Liley, who teamed with the school's other specials teachers on the project starting in November. “It teaches science, currency and history. It has a lot of layers.”

Peakview is at 19451 E. Progress Circle, in Centennial, near East Smoky Hill Road and South Tower Road. Overland High School is also a planned pickup location. The “Fundred” project is at fundred.org.