GSB celebrates its 12th Annual Dot Day

Lower School students — most wearing and adorned with dots — gathered in Evans Hall to celebrate GSB’s 12th annual Dot Day.

The students started the day by singing and dancing to “The Dot Song” by Emily Arrow followed by a reading of children’s picture book The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds. New to this year’s Dot Day celebrations, students had the opportunity to parade through the dot-covered hallways of Cox and show off their dot-patterned outfits while cheering for one another.

“Dot Day is a special day where we celebrate creativity, courage, and making our mark,” Interim Lower School Director and Early Childhood Music Teacher Jill Fedon told the students.

Dot Day is an international celebration observed on or around September 15. It’s inspired by The Dot, which is about a young girl named Vashti who initially doubts her ability to draw until her art teacher motivates her to “make a mark and see where it takes you.” Vashti then encourages another student to use their creativity to make a mark.

“This book has such an impact on the discussion of creativity and what happens when you don’t know what to create,” said Carly Hydrusko, Lower and Middle School art teacher and a Dot Day coordinator. “It’s about making your mark and trusting the creative process.”

In celebration of Dot Day on Wednesday, many Lower School students wore polka dot-patterned outfits while others created dots with paint, stickers, and pom-poms. 

“I love seeing the creativity of the students and seeing how they find ways to express themselves,” Fedon said.

GSB adopted Dot Day in the 2015-16 school year. What started as a small project in art class grew into a Lower School-wide celebration that includes decorating the hallways of Cox with dots and dot-inspired art created by students. 

“As many of our traditions do, it’s grown every year and is something our students and teachers look forward to,” Fedon said. 

“It feels a little more special each year,” added Wendy Hanks, a Dot Day coordinator, Preschool Teacher, and Kindergarten Art Teacher.

The tradition has grown to include other divisions. Outside of the Lower School, at the SBS Pavilion is an art installation dedicated to Yayoi Kusama, an artist known for her polka-dot paintings who died in late August. Hydrusko said the school plans to keep the installation up until at least the end of September. 

The installation is a collaborative way for students across divisions to make their mark. They’ve gradually added dots of all colors and sizes to the pavilion’s white walls, furniture and windows that have accumulated to eliminate the traces of the original blank space. The communal installation resembles Kusama’s “The Obliteration Room,” which features hundreds of thousands of colorful dot stickers visitors continuously add to.

“It’s such a great way to kick off the school year,” Hydrusko said about Dot Day.

“It brings everyone together,” added Hanks. “The sooner you can tell a child it’s great to be creative, that everyone is an artist, I think that can travel with them. Once they find that love for art, the world is their oyster.”

As art teachers, both Hanks and Hydrusko encourage their students to take chances.

“It’s so easy when you put your first mark down not to like it, but you have to see the outcome,” Hydrusko said. “You have to believe in yourself.”

Dot Day aligns with the Lower School’s virtue of the month, courage, which is also one of GSB’s core values, Fedon said.

“We encourage students to be curious about who they are as learners and leaders, and then we challenge them to continue to become the best versions of themselves,” Fedon said. “No matter how big or small, your mark matters.”