Like most teachers, Gail Durczak loves when a teachable moment can happen outside of the classroom walls.
So at the beginning of the school year — at the same time that local and national news was focused on issues of undocumented immigration, ICE enforcement and as strong political sentiments escalated — the Oak Park resident teaching social justice to middle-school students in Berwyn figured there was no better time to bring the voices of her students outside of school and directly into the community.
Over the past several weeks, Durczak and 82 seventh- and eighth-grade students at Freedom Middle School have been diligently painting a mural in a 105-foot tunnel directly east of the school along Ridgeland Avenue and 31st Street.
Featuring the student-generated theme of “After we migrate, we thrive,” the mural showcases a collective stand in solidarity with current migrants and immigrant communities.
With painting taking place during regular classroom periods throughout the school day, the group has painted butterflies displaying students’ countries of origin on one wing, and either the American flag or another chosen symbol of identity on the other wing.
“I also acknowledged that there are students that have a history of either being here before Europeans arrived, and other students whose ancestors were brought here against their will,” Durczak said. “I offered alternatives of either indigenous symbols and flags, and also the Pan-African flag to use.”
Durczak says the idea of the public mural was inspired by her lean into the Paulo Freire educational theory which asserts that students should be centered and have real choice in their education, encouraging critical thinking and dialogue between teachers and students in order to understand social inequalities.
Student Angie Canales (left) who helped take charge of the project alongside teacher Gail Durczak (right) | Jackie Pisano
One way which Durczak says she fulfills her educational goal is by surveying her students to see what they like and dislike about her course, noting many of her students often share how they enjoy bringing art, animals and personal identity into the curriculum.
“At the beginning of the school year, I asked the students to come up with drawings and themes that would give positive feelings and perspectives to themes around immigration,” she said. “Angie Canales, an eighth grader, came up with the idea to use the phrase, ‘In order to grow, we must migrate,’ and then have a butterfly with a green card on one wing and the U.S. flag on the other. I knew that this was going to be the best idea.”
Canales was excited to help spearhead creative efforts on the project, saying the mural has allowed her and her peers to value the importance of using both their actual voice and artistic voice to speak out about current news stories.
Teacher Gail Durczak (left) and student Angie Canales (right), who helped take charge of the project, discuss the mural | Jackie Pisano
“Right now, immigration is a really big topic that is currently happening all over the U.S., so I wanted to do something for a mural that had to do with immigration because I myself am Latina and I know how much the current news can impact all immigrants,” she said. “I wanted to do something that would allow us all to have a voice because right now, not all immigrants are able to speak out.”
Durczak said that especially now, this project has proved itself to be meaningful for both the school and the greater Berwyn community.
“I purposefully asked the children to come up with pro-immigration themes because immigrants, specifically Latino immigrants, are currently under attack,” she said. “Whether or not my children know it, they are constantly getting messaging and social cueing that they don’t belong here, or that they or people associated with them are criminals. They should be proud and empowered by their own stories of immigration, of their roots and ancestral histories.”
Durczak adds she finds deep personal meaning in the project as the child of Filipino immigrants.
“Although I technically check the box of Asian American and Pacific Islander, I have the same Spanish colonial history that the majority of my students do,” she said. “I know all about the feeling of being marginalized, othered and invalidated from being a brown immigrant in particular. My students deserve better than that, and to engage in a mural that externalizes and affirms their heritage in a way that is positive and empowering is something that I feel privileged to do with them.”
Durczak says that not only have her students found purpose in the project, but that school district administrators, community members and civic leaders have proudly expressed their support along the way.
“The students have been really excited to design and paint the tunnel, be outside and create the visions that they first crafted on paper,” she said. “Admin have also been appreciative of the concept [and] we have also received support from Josh Valdovinos of the Berwyn Public Art Initiative, who also teaches a very cool breakdancing and graffiti class in Oak Park District 97. Also, Josh Bowman, Berwyn’s second ward alderman, has personally walked over a lot of art supplies to help us. He learned about the project when I put the call out for people to donate their supplies in local Facebook groups. I have donations from people all over Oak Park as well — it’s really a dual-town project in that sense.”
Canales says seeing the project come to life has been “amazing.”
“It has a deeper meaning because I come from an immigrant family, so it feels really powerful to be able to speak up about it rather than being afraid or scared,” she said. “It’s not just about one specific group of immigrants — it’s all immigrants who are being targeted, and it’s not fair.”
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