By EMMA BARTLETT

If you’re in need of a t-shirt design, just call upon Jill Cyr’s AP 2D art students. Cyr, who teaches at Cranston East, had students develop a t-shirt logo for Cranston Public Schools’ Multilingual Learners (MLL) program this past school year.

CPS recently received $64,800 Immigrant Assistance Funds for MLL, which the district used to purchase 60 backpacks and age-appropriate school supplies while having Cranston East students create t-shirts designs. 

Kristen Ward, English language learner program administrator, spearheaded the initiative and approached Cyr in March about creating t-shirts for MLL students as a way to give them something personalized other than a backpack. After Cyr’s AP 2D Art and Design students completed their AP art exam, she asked if they would like to help create the shirts and received seven volunteers.

Cyr left the project open-ended for students; the only requirements were to create a welcoming t-shirt that used welcoming text and imagery.

Alexis Sousa, 18, worked on the project and said not having strict guidelines allowed the class to develop many concepts and pull the best parts of everyone’s work into one design.

Maria Silva, 18, agreed with Sousa and said there were two reasons she wanted to do well on the project.

“One, because I wanted the satisfaction of seeing a really well-done logo, but also because I was part of the ESL [now MLL] program and I just wanted to make as many kids feel included as possible,” said Silva.

Silva immigrated to the United States from Brazil at age 10 and exited the district’s MLL program at the end of ninth grade.

“It was really helpful for me to be with kids who were also in the same situation as me and who spoke different kinds of languages or came from different parts of the world,” Silva said.

The girls said the shirt design changed quickly because they had the input from so many people; the project took a week to come together.

The majority of students created their concepts digitally and Sousa and Silva worked directly with the program Procreate (an app for digital painting) while the others focused on the design’s minor details. They would then go to Sousa and Silva who would digitally replicate the design.

“I think we did a great job getting it done in a timely manner but also effectively,” Sousa said.

A major inspiration for the design came from Silva’s drawing, which included the earth and an airplane. She said that because landmarks from every part of the world would not fit on the shirt, she decided to implement a picture of the world while the airplane represented where people were coming and going.

“I know at Cranston East we have lots of difficult cultures that come from all over the world,” said Cyr, mentioning that the school’s students come from 70 different countries.

Cyr added that students presented the design to Ward and worked back and forth on a final product – just like a designer would do for a client.

She said Procreate was the right tool for the project and that, during Covid, some students began working digitally because it was easier to turn particular assignments in. She also gave students a 40-minute crash course on how to use Google Draw to create their t-shirt design.

“I don’t per se teach this or instruct this [Procreate] because not everyone has the equity to have one of these [tablet and software],” Cyr said. “So if a student has this and wants to use it, I encourage that.”

She said the app is easy to learn, and individuals would have a good understanding of how to use it after watching three or four videos.

Sousa added that overall Procreate gives you a cleaner looking design.

After the design was finalized, Ward ordered 75 shirts from Impact Custom Apparel in Cumberland; the funding is exclusively to support Immigrant students who are new to the district and the shirts will be given to any K through 12 students who enters the MLL program this year along with a backpack and age-appropriate school supplies. She added that the supplies given to students includes pens, pencils, notebooks, ruler, loose leaf, hats, gloves, folders, crayons, colored pencils, scissors, glue sticks, sketchbook (for art class), scientific calculator or standard calculator, colored pencils, a protractor and a compass.

“We have offered after school tutoring programs at the high school, transition tours on Saturdays incoming middle school and high school and purchased related technology (to name a few things),” said Ward.

Sousa and Silva both graduated in June and will attend Rhode Island College in the fall; Sousa plans to study psychology and Silva plans to pursue computer science.

“I had a lot of fun with this, and I hope the kids that get these t-shirts really enjoy them,” Silva said.