Art and Poems--A Great Combo!

Perhaps you remember that just about every kid at the Perkins School painted a tile to help decorate the new Tierney Community Center in the New Old Colony. If you don't, you can find out the backstory by clicking here and here.

Our tiles have been up for a while. Now they have company.



















Another community project had people in our neighborhood make tiles too. They sound like poems, don't they?
























These are only a few examples. We'll post more later, including some in foreign languages. We have people who all over the world living in our community and visitors from all over the world who our blog (from over 60 countries). So maybe someone will be able to read and enjoy them.

We're on TV!

We at the Perkins know that the New Old Colony (aka Phase 1) has been finished for a while. We've been using the Tierney Learning Center and people have already moved into their new homes. Tuesday, however, was the official opening day, complete with the Mayor and a ribbon-cutting ceremony.



















This was a very big deal! Old Colony was the oldest housing development in Boston and now it is becoming the newest. Lots of reporters from the newspapers and television stations were there.
























They heard many people speak. Mayor Menino pointed out that Phase 1 of Old Colony is the most advantaged green (energy efficient) housing development in our state. Before the renovations, the energy costs for each apartment were about $4,000 a year. Now they will be about $1,200. That's a fun math problem to do. $4,000 - $1,200 = $2,800 savings. What a difference, especially since that's just the savings for one apartment and there are 116 new ones.

Governor Deval Patrick (in the photo above) said the New Old Colony is important for so many reasons. It created 600 jobs, beautiful green space and a magnificent community center--all because this community deserves it. "This is an example," he said, "of what happens when people come together to shape their future."

The crowd cheered.



















When our Evacuation Day, the Musical players came out, they also cheered. Principal Brawer had passed out the words to two of the musical's songs so the audience could sing along. And they did. Anyone who peeked could see Governor Patrick giving it a try.
























After the ceremony, many of the people in the audience came into the Tierney Center to look around. Our Perkins Lego Robotics afterschool group, which meets in the Tierney Center after school, was there to greet them. The kids were happy to talk about how they built and programmed their robots. Then they let the machines "speak" for themselves by crawling around the table.



















Our Why Do We Celebrate Evaculation Day? book, written by the Perkins kids and grownups, was also for sale. The result? More money for our Perkins graduate college fund.

What a great day.

A while ago, we reported on our kids' contribution to the Old Colony renovation across the street. Just about every student in the school (and some grownups too) made tiles for the Tierney Learning Center, the new meeting place for people in the Old Colony community.









Now the tilers are doing their part. The tiles are being put up in the community center.




















Originally we thought that the tiles would all be together in a block. But the plan has changed into a better one.
















Now they are creating a path that leads you into the center. They are on the walls, saying, "Welcome. This is a nice place for kids."
















They walk alongside you wherever you go. They keep you company going up the stairs.







































They stand guard as people work and learn and meet to build a strong community.

Just ask the kids at the Perkins. They're glad they could help.