Everyone in the Sun family shines a bright light. For Autism Awareness month, a school-wide art project at Spring Hill Elementary brought the community together to celebrate how uniqueness makes us all special.

In art class, students learned about what autism is and what it looks like, then made a massive mural with individually decorated puzzle pieces coming together to make one beautiful picture. The whole Sun community took part, more than 600 students from Pre-K through 5th grade and some teachers and staff each creating a puzzle piece.

Spring Hill’s art teacher, Racheal Harris, led the collaborative mural project. It is a cause close to her heart, and she shared her family’s journey with autism. Her son is a 10th grader in the autism program at Starr’s Mill High.

“We had amazing conversations about autism and simply being kind to our friends who are different,” said Harris. “I hope the students took away simply to spread kindness and continue to be helpful to students who are different. I hope our students will continue to show empathy and understanding when they meet other students who are different. I hope our Spring Hill Suns will learn a little more about each other and continue to spread love and acceptance here at school and in their communities.”