COLLEGE PARK, Ga. — The media center at Stonewall Tell Elementary School in College Park is no ordinary library.
“We were checking out books, and I looked up, and I saw all these paintings,” fifth grader Sebastian Royal said. The paintings were on every wall, all the way around the room.
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“I must say, I enjoy it a lot. I love how they make us more interested in these people and how we’re learning about them,” fifth grader Aaliyah Worthams told Channel 2′s Berndt Petersen.
Along the wall, students can find Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., President Barack Obama, “Hammerin’” Hank Aaron, Muhammad Ali and many more.
“It was awe-inspiring. It was jaw-dropping,” Principal Nikki Porter said.
Porter isn’t sure how many, but it might be a few hundred portraits painted by College Park artist Steven Hill. It took a year to create what’s known as the “Wall of Dreams.” It transformed the room into a place that inspires the students who enter it.
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“Everyone, no matter where you come from, has the ability to dream and work toward making your dreams a reality,” Porter said.
Royal says he learned so much about so many historic people because he first saw them on the wall.
“I’m here, and I just grab a book and start reading. Then I look up, ‘Oh! He’s here. OK. Let me read about him,’” Royal said.
One of the focal points of the mural is Dr. King, and his “I have a dream” speech is all across one side of the room.
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