Vandalism Drops With Christmas Decoration : Pupils Paint for Peace at Christmas

The holiday painting of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer on the window of Builders Emporium on Sepulveda Boulevard in Van Nuys has something extra--a bullet hole in his shiny nose.

The decision to camouflage the hole with a reindeer’s nose was made by students from Pacoima’s Sharp Avenue Elementary School, who spent Wednesday and Thursday painting 18 windows at the hardware store. This is the second year that students from Sharp have decorated the store’s windows.

For the students, it was a morning of fun and practical learning. For the managers of the store, the painted windows raise hopes for a tranquil holiday season.

“We would get calls at least once a week that somebody had driven past the store and shot out the windows,” said Jim Hill, the store’s merchandising manager.

“We used to have plate-glass windows,” Hill said, pointing to the panes that reach from floor to ceiling. “But they are just too expensive to replace. Now we have bullet-proof windows made out of non-shattering plastic.”

Bullets still leave ugly pits in the strengthened windows, however, although they no longer penetrate.

But last year, when the Sharp students first decorated the windows in a holiday motif, the random shootings stopped.

It appeared to be a Christmas miracle.

“There’s less vandalism, less graffiti on our walls and no one shoots at the windows,” Hill said, a touch of wonderment in his voice.

“I absolutely believe that even those bad guys who shoot up our windows realize that the paintings were done by children, and they appreciate it.”

The window project was begun last year after Builders Emporium “adopted” Sharp Avenue School. Hill thought it might be a good idea to have the children decorate the store windows. School officials agreed, and teachers from the second through the sixth grades chose youngsters to participate. Selection is based on several factors, including artistic ability and improvement in classroom behavior.

“We explain the rationale of why we are doing this. We talk to the students about improving the community’s appearance and working in cooperation with our local businesses,” said Yvonne Chan, an assistant principal at Sharp. The painting team also discussed what individuals can do to prevent vandalism and graffiti.

This year the group wrestled with the problem of how to hide the two scars left by bullets. The children decided to make one of the holes part of Rudolph’s nose. The other became the center of a star.

Teamwork is another lesson. Younger students, who cannot reach very high, become “snow people,” painting billowing snowdrifts along the window bottoms.

Older students, who can maintain their balance on short stepladders, outline the drawings with paint and complete most of the detail work.

“We mix the children racially and ethnically and place Spanish-speaking students with English-speaking students,” Chan said. “This way they learn to work together and the Spanish speakers learn some new English words.”

And there are a few lessons on perceptual vision. Because the students are painting the insides of windows meant for viewing from the outside, all their work must be done backward. Words must be written backward.

The 12 members of the team that worked on the Builders Emporium windows Wednesday were followed by another 12 Sharp students who completed the painting Thursday.

Another group of Sharp students, divided into two teams, will spend two days decorating windows at the McDonald’s restaurant in Pacoima. “We would like to do the windows of the Post Office on Chase Street in Pacoima, but we haven’t gotten permission yet,” Chan added.