In February 2026, Parents’ Climate Community and EcoRise hosted a professional development workshop for Austin ISD teachers. This workshop introduced participants to DearTomorrow, a global climate storytelling project asking participants to write a letter to a loved one in 2050.
Inspired by the workshop, Marshall teacher Stacey Smith partnered with colleague Jessica Foster on an EcoRise grant to bring DearTomorrow to students at Marshall Middle School.
The result? A stunning, student-designed mural that represents Marshall students’ vision for a climate-forward school campus.
Below, Marshall art teacher Jessica Foster shares more about the process, along with advice for teachers or parents interested in bringing a similar project to their school community.
What inspired you and fellow Marshall teacher Stacey Smith to bring a “Dear Tomorrow” project and mural to Marshall MS?
Stacey is the queen of our Green Team and is constantly thinking of ways to inspire and empower students to embrace eco-conscious change. She approached me with an idea for a public art project, and as someone with experience in expanding public art in schools, I jumped at the opportunity! Together we decided to use the DearTomorrow project as a framework for ideating and designing the mural and data collection.
Tell us a bit about the process and logistics. What did you and the students do?
We began our process by inviting students to join us after school for the design process, which lasted about a week. We began with the DearTomorrow project, asking students to write, draw, and dream up what they wanted students 20 years in the future to feel when they came to our school. We also sent out a campus-wide climate survey that we used as another data source so that we could capture school-wide ideas beyond the group of students who could stay after school. Students overwhelmingly responded with the desire for future students to spend more time outdoors, taking care of their environment, and building community together.
How many students were involved?
We had a core group of about 10-12 who stayed after school and helped with ideation, data collection, sketching, priming, and painting. We stayed after school twice per week for a total of 6 weeks. The first week was ideation, the second week we worked with the muralist to finalize the sketches, and we painted for about 4 weeks. We had a total of 255 students respond to the climate survey and lots of students who supported the mural and gave compliments even if they didn’t personally stay and paint!
How did you translate the “Dear Tomorrow” research into a mural? How did students work together to determine the key themes and visual style?
We had two primary data sets: the visual and verbal feedback from the DearTomorrow project and data from a campus-wide climate survey. The survey had 255 responses and asked students questions such as how often they worry about climate disasters and what kinds of actions we can take on our campus to make a positive impact on the climate. Looking at both of these data sets, the students zeroed in on recurring themes such as recycling, spending time outdoors, being a steward of the environment, and caring for and appreciating local plants and animal species. We worked with a local mural artist, Allie River of Serotonin Spaces, who we met over two sessions to come up with visual representations of these themes and created sketches together. She presented her drafts to us and students provided feedback until we had a final draft we were ready to paint!
What advice do you have for teachers looking to bring a similar project into their classrooms?
My advice is to trust students and let them lead. Students really led the ideation phase and had no trouble working with a professional artist, giving her feedback and making their ideas come to life. When it came to painting, there was a bit of a learning curve using new materials, but after a few sessions they were experts! Also, snacks. Specifically, popsicles. We were painting after school in May in the direct sun, and nothing beat the heat like a popsicle mid-mural painting!
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