The theme for this years program was respect. Through storytelling, readings, writing, and studio sessions, students explored their experiences with respect (or lack thereof). During the studio sessions, students made boxes which contained stories they had written. The exterior of the boxes visually represent their contents. The Gift of Respect project culminated in a multimedia celebration that included a display of the storyboxes, videos, and a light show created by students at Franklin Pierce University in Rindge, New Hampshire.

1. Gift of Respect
Art & Dialogue Project 2013
New England Center for Civic Life

2. The box I created is dark and there are many broken items on it. They represent how torn
I felt after a customer disrespected me. I also poked nails through the box to show that
disrespect can hurt others. The aluminum foil symbolizes how one treats others reflects the
kind of person they are. The stones represents the saying “Sticks and stones may break my
bones, but words will never hurt me.”
Making my box allowed me to express my feelings through art. After I was done, I felt like a
big weight was lifted off my shoulders. The experience at work always bothered me. Now I
look at the experience as a learning process. It made me grow as a person, and creating this
box made me realize this.
—Crystal Colon

3. I felt happy and calm creating this box, it was
nice to be in the warm lakeside classroom on the
cold foggy morning and since my story was special
to me, it brought me serenity and comfort. I
choose pink camouflage tissue paper because
pink is the color for breast cancer and my Mom is
a solider against this disease. There are four
strands of gold tissue paper for the long line of
strong women I come from. On my Mom’s gold
line are four stones, representing me and my
three sisters. A silver strand of rope across the
bottom of the box is a nod to my best friend’s
mom, who we lost from breast cancer.
The camouflage paper also symbolizes that this is
a great emotional internal battle and a large gold
“I” on a stone represents that our story is only one
of millions. On the sides are the names of women
I know who have fought or been affected by the
disease. They are sisters, mothers, and friends,
and they inspire me and give me great strength.
—Jacklyn Therrien

4. My story is about a physically handicapped boy who slipped on a patch of ice and fell.
Another boy went up to him and offered a hand, but then decided to kick him in the stomach
instead. I wish I had been able to help the handicapped boy but I was in complete shock,
unable to process what was happening. Overcoming obstacles in a difficult situation is an
opportunity to become a strong person. This message can apply to anyone who has witnessed
other people go through a tough time.
Rocks represent that life can sometimes have rough patches. A piece of string looks like a
maze and represents that these rough patches can sometimes be confusing. The pieces of that
puzzle are still not put together in my head, and I do not believe that they ever will be.
—Leah Hoard

5. Hands down, my gift of respect
goes to my Dad. My father is a captain
in the Army reserves. At the beginning
of my freshman year, he was deployed
to Khost, Afghanistan, for 18 months.
I would get a phone call every Thursday
night and sometimes it felt like he could
fix a rainy day just by the sound of his
voice. Other days I wouldn’t get that
phone call and I would just sit there
waiting for the phone to ring.
I don’t have any tattoos on my body,
but if I did I would get a tattoo that
has the captain emblem with “Capt.
Kellough” on my right peck. Every time
I see soldier I gladly shake their hand
and say “thank you.” They go to heal
and back so we can live in peace.
—Donnie Kellough

6. My brother Jake is a superhero to his students. The children look up to him as a teacher
and a friend. Jake is 23 years old and teaches in a cognitive learning classroom. Although
Jake is teaching the class, he is learning even more from his students. These children show
others how to appreciate life, be happy, and love everyone.
Jake demonstrates respect in his classroom everyday to his students. I respect Jake and all
that he does for his students. When given a chance, children with learning disabilities can
accomplish great thinks. Respect and pride make these people active members of society.
—Nicole Galewski

7. My box is covered with black and white paper. These zebra lines represent the world of
black and white. The seashells represent tranquility, but mixed along with them are
random puzzle pieces that don’t belong together. There is heavy and thick metal chain . . .
showing that there is a line drawn and that it cannot be broken.
My box shows my journey to self‐respect; a journey out of disrespect and discrimination. It
visually represents the need for peace and acceptance in a society where black and white
lines are drawn. Chains symbolize self‐baggage and how that weighs down the victim. One
side is disrespect and the other is a lack of self‐respect and the yearning to fit into an
animalistic society. I was trying to express what disrespect can do to you.
— Patience Turkson

8. When I was 11 years old the coach of the opposing team used unethical practices to gain the
upper‐advantage. Our team lost the game and the season. We maintained our composure,
acted as professionals, and “took the high road” in a terrible and heart‐breaking situation.
The black lines on the box jump out, especially the third base line where the opposing team
was located. That line was purposefully drawn in a “crooked” manner. The buttons represent
a “circle of trust” which was also broken. Green duct tape represents the grass and how vivid
the day was. My name at the bottom is in small, adhesive “sticky letters” because I felt
nonexistent, irrelevant, and disrespected. I will save my box for as long as I live to show my
children and to remind myself. I have learned to positively deal with adversity and that,
unfortunately, everything does not always go a person’s way.
—Justin James Hopkins

9. This box tells the story of a complicated relationship. For many years I danced with a girl who
was an on‐again/off‐again kind of friend.
The places on the top that intertwine represent when our friendship was close. The area where
the paths spread apart represents time when she disrespected my fellow classmates, our
instructors, and me. The paths come together again to show a time when she seemed to have
changed. At the end the paths go their separate ways, just like when she left our studio on bad
terms. The ribbons mirror the friendship we had. On one side there is a space sewn together to
show reconciliation, but on the opposite side the ribbon is almost completely severed, which is
how she left things.
—Marissa Moore

10. Christina was a freshman at my high school.
Last May she passed away in her sleep.
Throughout this tragedy, the freshmen stayed
strong. They talked about how they felt about
her passing, and worked through their difficult
times.
The upside‐down ice cream cone represents
something upsetting to a child. The broken
clock represents how suddenly your world can
change. The playing cards show how life can
sometimes not be fair. The Yale key represents
how Christina could have grown up to be a Yale
graduate and the snake charm shows that
something could always go wrong. I represented
the freshmen with childlike elements and the
community with adult‐like elements to show
how difficult it was for the freshmen to act like
adults, but they seemed to do this almost
effortlessly. They keep her alive and in their
hearts by telling her story.
—Haley Nelson

11. My box represents how I used violence to
demand respect for me and my mother. Two
high school females carelessly and blatantly
disrespected my mom by calling her names
because of how she looked due to chemo and
radiation treatments. I later realized from my
mother that you cannot command respect
from others just because they fear you; it’s
something that has to be earned not taken.
I chose to go with a smaller box because you
don’t need the big objects to draw your
audience in; you can use smaller objects to
make them focus on great details in your
story. The pink camo paper represents Breast
Cancer Awareness; the pink fuzzy heart
shows my unconditional love for my mom;
the ribbon is a constant reminder that we
need to find a cure; and the silver chain
shows that she is a survivor and a fighter and
beat this illness.
—Sharyon Williams

12. This box allowed me to express my feelings on respect through using my own experiences.
Those experiences are what shaped me as a person and by designing this box I could show my
story through figures and symbols. I enjoyed creating something that had meaning.
After finishing I had insights regarding my brother. The autistic awareness symbols made me
feel good about what I am doing. I printed out a blank autistic puzzle piece and put Tanner’s
name in it, to represent him as a kid with autism. He might be autistic but he has changed my
life, and created a great atmosphere for kids with similar disabilities. Thanks to what Tanner
has given me, I will try my best to make this world a better place for kids with autism.
—Hunter Niles

13. Respect is somewhat of an
abstract concept. Pinpointing the
exact meaning is nearly impossible.
From my experiences, respect is
something that is earned, not handed
out, and because of this not everybody
earns respect.
Other than the goal posts that help
more realistically display a football field,
there is nothing but a green field on
my box. I created only a field because
regardless of everything going on in
your life, the field is where respect
was earned or gained. It is where
people revealed their heart and
character.
—Nicholas Park

14. Respect is what everyone should be
treated with all the time. This is exactly
what my high school did not show me
when I was ill. I received all F’s because
they didn’t believe that I was sick and this
resulted in me dropping out.
The F’s written in red sharpie symbolize the
grades my high school gave me when I was
sick. In addition, the stickers illustrate that
I went from having A’s to receiving all F’s.
I also used blue and green colored tape to
make plus, minus, and equals sign to show
that my experience revolved around
school. Finally, the wire that I used to seal
the lid symbolizes how close I hold this
experience and how it helped me become
the person I am today.
—John Szalwinski

15. My work is about respect between
brother and sister. My sister, Jennifer, kept a
secret about her hair being messed around
with. My sister only gave me hints that she
was being bullied, but she never told me.
Creating this box was more difficult than I
thought it would be. “Anh n Em” means
brother and sister in Vietnamese. The box
has black and yellow ribbons, which
represents the light and darkness of the
story. There are two of each items on the
box. There is one that is bigger than the
other. The bigger one represents me and
the smaller represents my sister. The star
represents that my sister is a special person
to me. The material used to hold the items
together is the glue, which represents the
strong hold or bond between us.
— Brandon Nguyen

16. I felt as though I was walking around
with a ball and chain attached to my
foot. The card with an 8 on it
represents my lucky number. It is is
ripped in half showing that my luck is
no more. There is a love note with the
words “I love you” on it. A girl I had
strong feelings for ripped my love
poems that I had written to her into
pieces in front of my face. The rusty key
represents the key to the future that
I must find in order to achieve my true
happiness. Last but not least is the
tesla coil standing perfectly erect in
the center overlooking everything. It
is a symbol being more powerful than
the rest. It shows that I have the power
to take charge of who I really am and
knowing who I really am is half the
battle to being happy.
—Devon Avery

17. Starting with a blank cardboard box
can be difficult. As I sifted through the
immense amounts of materials, I found
the gray, gleaming ribbon. I used this
ribbon to represent brain cancer. I
folded the ribbon in the shape of a
typical cancer ribbon. Then I set the
chain up in a “Z” figure, making the box
appear locked. The overall use of the
color gray represents the color of brain
cancer, which my dear friend, Sam, had.
To some, gray is a very neutral color. It
doesn’t take sides.
My box holds the type of respect Sam
and her family shared with the world.
The chain locks my box and protects
this kind of respect because it is a
beautiful thing. The key can be seen as
the “key to respect.” The star represents
Sam’s soccer team, the Stars of
Massachusetts and the fact that she
was a star in all aspects of life.
—Sydney Stengel

18. Five years ago my family moved
from Florida to a small town in New
Hampshire. I went from having a lot of
close friends living nearby to none. The
same day we moved in we met our
neighbors and their son, Eli, was my first
new friend. In middle school and high
school, people complained about how they
did not like him. It always annoyed me
because it came from people who barely
knew him.
At my family’s Christmas party last year,
my aunt’s brother-in-law’s heart stopped.
We all watched him go from being fine to
dying in a matter of seconds. My friend ran
next door to get his father, an EMT. During
the whole situation Eli did what he could to
help. Even though I never questioned why
I was friends with him, that night made me
respect him and appreciate being friends
with him a whole lot more.
—Andrew Toscano

19. Life gives some kids challenges they cannot get through alone. The Make‐A‐Wish Foundation of
VT & NH strives to make their dreams come true. I play in the All‐Star Hockey Classic, one of
their fundraisers. At the game I was interviewed by a reporter who kept interrupting me when I
tried to tell him my brother was my reason for playing, not the rivalry between two states.
Gold has always seemed like a color that would represent respect, as it is bright and as gold as
the stars in the sky that symbolize dreams and wishes. This gold can also be applied to the
brightness of the video camera, which seemed to glare at me as I was being interviewed.
—Jenna Lancour

20. I never truly respected officials because of how
easy it was for them to completely change the
outcome of a game with one call. But my father
urged me to learn how to umpire. Since I knew
pretty much everything there was to know about
baseball, I had some confidence prior to umpiring
my first game. But I made a few terrible calls and
was the most hated person in the Moosup Little
League complex that afternoon.
The large plastic eyes represent how my eyes
were opened to how hard it is to be an umpire.
The eyes also represent how blind I was in missing
several obvious calls. “Boo!!!” and “You suck!”
represent phrases coming from outraged parents.
The mustache represents my wish to be incognito.
I ripped a dollar in half in order to symbolize how
little umpires get paid for what they endure.
Putting myself in their shoes opened up my eyes
and impacted my baseball career significantly.
Now I give them respect, and they give me
respect.
—Gage Griffin

21. To see interviews on respect
conducted by
Franklin Pierce students
please visit
www.YouTube.com/user/HeatherTullio