After reading the book Me and Marvin Gardens, (but before having the opportunity to hear from its award-winning author Amy Sarig King during an assembly at Black Rock Middle School) students at Bala Cynwyd engaged in an interdisciplinary project blending lessons and themes from their English, Art and Science classes.

The story of Me and Marvin Gardens focuses on the relationship between a boy named Obe Devlin and the eponymous little piggy (Marvin Gardens) who eats plastic and poops toxic waste. After working their way through the book with librarian Kelly McDermott and discussing the underlying themes related to environmental science and sustainability, the Knights took what they learned from the library to the studio as they studied the avant-garde cultural movement of surrealism with art teacher Chrissy Poplawski. The students then combined the concepts as they worked with recycled materials to create sculptures of how they imagined Marvin Gardens looked based on his description in the book.

The Knights’ magnificent sculptures of Marvin Gardens are currently on display at BCMS for students, staff and visitors to enjoy. Some of the sculptures even got to go on the fun-filled field to Black Rock where the porcine figurines were proudly exhibited to the author herself!

This interdisciplinary project helped students become more aware of environmental issues while having fun reading, creating and collaborating with one another. Click here to see photos of a few of the “Marvins” made by the BCMS students!