This year, the parents based their lessons on the work of muralist painter Diego Rivera. In 1920, the minister of education of Mexico--in an effort to bring the arts to the people--hired Rivera to head a team of artists to create murals about and for the people of Mexico.

In that same spirit, the students of Blue Hills got out their paintbrushes to create a mural that represented their school. Students and staff members took part in the mural by adding their handprints to the work of art. Some students, teachers and even Principal Susan Tsolinas had their bodies outlined and painted on the mural as well. The title of the mural is "Together we can do great things!" The mural, which also features a map of the world, represents the diverse school community and is located on the school's back playground.

Julie Ferrario, the parent in charge of the Art Docents Program, couldn't be more proud of the accomplishment. The mural was dedicated on June 7 at a spring ice cream social. The evening also helped to bring awareness to parents and the general community about how the Art Docents Program is funded.

The program receives a matching grant from the Cupertino Education Endowment Foundation and the Parent-Teacher Association. With these funds, the parent volunteer committee provides five to six art lessons a year to the students of Blue Hills.

"These lessons go above and beyond the regular classroom lessons," Ferrario said. "We try to give the students an exposure to famous artists, cultures, techniques in art and styles of arts."

Fourth-grade teacher Kathy Young said she hopes her students learn about the difficult cultures of the world through art because of this program. This year, students have created tin-foil people, batik silk paintings and tile mosaics.

Parents taught a lesson on June 13 in the likeness of the work of artist George Seurat. After a presentation on Seurat, the fourth-grade students learned about his famous dots with a hands-on project.