The National Art Honor Society (NAHS) brought thoughtful creativity to the Summitt Elementary School sidewalk through chalk drawings of positive messages, doodles of characters, and drawings of animals at 3 p.m. on Sunday, March 1, to welcome the elementary school students, in collaboration with the Parent Teacher Association (PTA),  and motivate them to do their best on the day of their biggest fundraiser of the year.

To promote fitness, education, and leadership, Summitt partnered with the Apex Fun Run organization to encourage students to participate in the annual school marathon. This marathon raises money for school resources and events, including field trips, new books, and programs, based on how much students run. The PTA requested NAHS to draw motivational messages and fun doodles on the sidewalk leading up to the school’s entrance.

“Doodling on the ground using chalk is kind of a big project to kick off the fundraiser,” PTA member Allie Horne said. “The APEX team sent a group of leaders to our school for a couple of weeks and they taught the kids how to be strong and courageous and it culminated into a fun run. The biggest goal behind drawing with chalk on the sidewalk at the front entrance is to have the kids show up at school and feel excited to be there. We want to make them feel taken care of, and we hope they feel empowered, confident and ready to participate in the fun run.”

Feeling creatively inspired by the underutilized medium of chalk, NAHS members came to Summitt Elementary to re-explore this medium. Allowing nostalgia to guide them through every stroke of the chalk stick, the artists unearthed memories from when they were in elementary school.

“I had a free spot in my schedule, and I was looking for something to do, [so] I thought I’d come to Summitt Elementary because I thought it would be fun to just draw with chalk with my friends,” Ananya Velmurugan ‘27 said. “It’s been a really long time since I used chalk for anything, and it’s a medium that’s not widely used and it makes me feel young again.”

As the artists drew with PTA members and Summitt students, they allowed themselves to reconnect with their individual art styles without the creative restraints of art classes or commissioned art.

“Honestly, creating art for younger students has been inspiring me a lot creatively,” Abrielle Smith ‘26 said. “Usually when I work, it’s for commissions with a specific goal in mind with strict specifications, whereas this activity is just a stream of consciousness. You can draw anything, and I’m reconnecting with that creative freedom I had as a kid when I used to draw with chalk all the time.”

While drawing, artists kept in mind the goal of their efforts. They were mindful of how students would feel when looking at their artwork at the start of the school week, giving them more purpose when creating art for the local community.

“I think art is sort of like a universal language that everyone understands and can get comforted by,” NAHS President Ella Kim ‘26 said. “It’s something that brightens people’s day, and I’m grateful we get to do that for these kids.”