Franklin Elementary School in Sewickley, Pennsylvania, celebrated International Dot Day in a vibrant way. Art instructor, Kaitlyn Edington, creatively combined the themes of “I Am Human” by Susan Verde and Peter H. Reynolds with “The Dot” by encouraging her students to design their own simple self-portraits in a lively mural. Mrs. Edington said her goal has always been helping her students to “Think” and “See” like an artist. She loves to encourage trying new projects, and seeing the world in a new perspective through imagination.

International Dot Day is a daily celebration for Amy Vessel, co-chair of the Children's Choices Program, and professor at Louisiana Tech University in Ruston, Louisiana. In April 2019, Ruston was the site of an F3 tornado. Many businesses, homes, and part of Louisiana Tech was destroyed, but luckily none of the academic buildings were damaged. The storms were able to bring the community closer than before, through support and finding ways to work together. After being determined to improve what they lost, their elementary program was named 4th in the nation by the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ), and their TEAM Model Full-Year Residency Program had been published on American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE)’s blog. The university is determined to make multiple dots and marks to help their community across Louisiana!

For International Dot Day 2019, Jola Czajka from Stargard Poland had her students mark their dots with creating multiple collaborative portraits and drawings! Check out how they celebrated their dots from a collaborative tree to a giant emoji worm.