New English teacher Jeff Rogers wants to bring positive energy to the classroom in an unusual way. Rogers lets students bring their favorite book or childhood book to life with a little bit of paint and a brush.

“My group painted the cover of the I Am In A Book by Mo Williams. We wanted to relate our ceiling tile to English class and several of my group members enjoyed that story as a child,” freshman Carissa Bersche said.

Painting the ceiling tiles is a tradition that Rogers has carried on from his seven years of teaching. Rogers started doing it when he taught in St. Louis city and then again when he moved on to Parkway West Middle. The idea to paint the ceiling tiles came from his cooperative teacher who did it at the end of the school year to blow off steam. Rogers had the idea to do it at the beginning of the school year as a fun way for kids to work on their team building skills and get to know each other.

“It was a good team building exercise that helped us cooperate together and learn to make decisions. At first, we had a hard time deciding what to do but we came to an agreement. It helped us with working in a group and learning to do our part,” freshman Mariella Cox said.
Rogers’ goal is to eventually paint the ceiling tiles in the English hallway, not just in the vicinity of his classroom. Rogers wants to let his students’ imaginations run wild and express their ideas through the ceiling tiles. His plan for the English hallway is to keep the standard to being a book. “I think that the requirement will be that it is a book cover of a book that meant something to them whether it was a book you read in fourth grade or a book that you read as a junior,” Rogers said.

Coming into the high school environment can be an overwhelming experience, especially as a freshman. A good joint effort exercise can be a good way to slow down an just have some fun.
“This was a good team building exercise because we got to socialize and share ideas with our peers. It was a lot of fun and a great way to start the year,” freshman Carissa Bersche said.