Brewster School Featured on ‘Good Morning America’

C.V. Star students in Danielle Michielini’s art class created an exhibit to recognize International Dot Day, which was featured on “Good Morning America” on Sept. 11.

Many Brewster families were excited to catch a segment on “Good Morning America” last Thursday that featured one of their local schools. 

When C.V. Starr Intermediate School art teacher Danielle Michielini was contacted by a producer from GMA about a segment for International Dot Day, she was up for the challenge. In a matter of hours – with the help of fellow art teacher Megan Naclerio – she had a vision that fit in with her theme: neon ripple effect. 

International Dot Day is celebrated by millions of people worldwide. It’s based upon a book by Peter Reynolds, titled – aptly – “The Dot.” The message of the book combines collaborative art with kindness, encouraging every person to “make their mark” on their community.

The core idea is simple yet profound: one small act like a single dot or a kind word can create a powerful chain reaction that spreads and grows.

Class of 2015 Brewster grad Kiersten Hecht put GMA in touch with the district. Hecht is a music teacher in Boston and is connected with Reynolds through her work in children’s media, as she has a puppet show program for neurodivergent children called Lilypad Academy.

When Reynolds and GMA were looking for a school district to showcase Dot Day, she immediately thought of her alma mater.

Within two days, every student at C.V. Starr created their own dot using neon pastels, neon oil pencils, and neon tempura cakes for the installation. Some dots were big, some were small, some swirled, others were in the shape of a flower, many looked like a vortex, and one looked like an eyeball. 

The great thing about a dot is its simplicity, said Michielini.

“A dot can be anything from a single point to a swirl of color or a collection of smaller marks,” she told students. “There is no right way to make a dot.”

She urged students to remember the positive message of the book when creating their dots. “Try to think about a simple act of kindness – even a smile will cause someone else to feel good and smile back,” said Michielini. “Make your mark.”

Students also wrote out neon kindness strips that began, “I will make a ripple of kindness by…” and completed the sentence with: “helping my teacher clean up the classroom,” “holding the door for people,” “saying thank you,” “giving a compliment,” “including others on the playground,” and “smiling in the hallway,” among other statements.

The result was a total sensory immersion, as a temporary hallway due to building renovations was transformed into a glow show. Students walked into the space lit up with black lights, one by one, using a simple adhesive to add their creation to the collaborative mural. The result was waves of dots and ribbons of kindness streaming from large-scale pictures from the book.

As students walked through, they used black light flashlights for added effect.

The glowing installation will be visited and experienced by each class as a way of experiencing the ripple effect, and seeing how the collective creativity and kindness of the school community can make something beautiful.