Callum: This is something that goes over the border wall, it’s a statue sort of like the Statue of Liberty. There’s a sign on it’s chest that says welcome and below it is a heart. You walk through it’s legs and it makes you feel welcome to go to the other side of the border, it’s like a gateway. There’s a sign on it that says welcome.

Rafa: It’s a person that has their fist going up and also stairs to go up it, it has 8 spikes for the 8 continents or 7.5 because I’m not sure about the eighth continent, Zilandia. The fist represents breaking the wall so that people can come through.

Lilah: It’s cubes stacked on top of each other and each cube represents a different thing. Some of them represent how we should have many different skin colors in our country, some represent how it’s ok to have immigrants and that they’re good. Another represents how it’s good to be different than other people. Each cube has designs on it that represent how beautiful everyone is and the top cube is the tiniest and it represents how tiny things can be very good big things.

Emilia: I made a cave, it has a little open door and on the front of it says love. Love is like peace and it means that everyone is welcome here and the hearts are there because we have space for you and a home for you to have a better life. I put butterflies because they migrate and that is like the people coming because they came a long way to get here. Also I chose flowers because I felt like that is something good to show people, to show that we are open to anyone, it doesn’t matter who you are, how you look or what gender.

Phoenix: It’s a giant torch to light the way, on top there’s the fire and the base says welcome on it. I chose it because of the Statue of Liberty, she’s lighting the way so I made something to light the way too. I saw the Statue of Liberty in September when I went to NY.

Emma: It has hands to show the different colors of the skin and I put a heart to show love. I want it to show that all people are welcome.

Ella: It’s a kind of Statue of Liberty and she’s holding up a peace sign so that everybody’s welcome. And you can go up inside and there’s a place to live for people who don’t have one.

Hazel: It’s a rainbow heart, the whole thing is rainbow. I chose it because I like hearts and rainbow colors can make people feel happy. The heart is for love.

Liv: The strings are for broken chains and eggs to be like a decoration but you can’t keep them because they are for welcoming. It also has three archways so that you can walk through them and there’s two tunnels and those are for coming out and seeing the whole state. There are trees to represent freedom. It is a place for people to walk through.

Bailey: It’s a sculpture that is a heart and the heart stands for love and to welcome everyone from all around the world.

Liam: It’s a fox swinging his wrecking ball tail at the wall the Trump wants to make. I chose this because Trump wants to make a wall that keeps Mexicans from coming in and I don’t like that idea because I like people from Mexico and I think it’s mean because immigrants are welcome here.

Eli: It’s some bars with a butterfly coming out of the bars to represent freedom and to say immigrants can come here, we want them here.

Dylan: It’s a butterfly that is holding a sign that says welcome. The butterfly represents that you can fly away and be free.

Lula: It’s a person holding a welcome sign. It’s a person in a suit, he dressed up really nice for people. I really like people in top hats. I chose this because it has a welcome sign and I tried to put a lot of color in itl

Nia: It symbolizes peace, it’s someone holding up a rainbow walking here. A rainbow is welcoming to people. On top of the person there’s a sign that says love in English and Spanish. There is a face with white and black skin colors to represent that white people and black people can come here.

Darwynn: It’s a puppy and a baby. The baby is to represent people all around the world and the innocence of a baby and new beginnings. The baby came because his mom brought him and his mom is a very good person. They came from Mexico. The puppy is for cuteness because everything adorable is awesome.

Medgar: It’s a warrior because it will fight for peace and it has a giant weight that it’s carrying that says welcome on it. I chose a weight to show that people are strong. I think it shows that we care about immigrants and that they don’t have to be scared.

Myla: It has a sign that says you are welcome here there’s a person holding the sign and the person is smiling. I wanted everyone to know that they’re welcome here and that we don’t exclude people and we are happy that they are going to come here.

Zuri: It has two people, a bridge and an arch. The people are holding hands. There are stairs going up to it so people can go inside. Inside there are rooms for people. The people holding hands symbolize friendship.

Maayan: It’s the Statue of Cookies, they are on a plate. The toppings on the cookies represent everyone is different and there’s a smiling cookie on the side and an Earth on the other side. The Earth represents that everyone is a community and the cookies represent that everyone can like what they like.

Ainara: It’s kind of like the Statue of Liberty but it’s holding a light to light the way and it has a baby. The baby I got from this book that I have in Spanish and English and there’s this girl and she has a baby and she’s an immigrant. There are hearts on the spikes for if someone doesn’t know what the spikes are for it will be for welcoming people. Even people in wheelchairs or with strollers can go up inside because there’s a ramp for people to go up and down. There are also places for people to live inside if they don’t have a home.

Lilah: This is a butterfly and it represents that you can fly away. This is water coming out of a water fountain representing that you can be free. The sign says everybody is welcome.

Iona: The main part is an arch and you are supposed to walk through it, or you can go up stairs on top. There’s a slide going down the other side. There’s also a chair for people who can’t use the stairs and it goes up and they can walk around on the top too. I chose this because I think it’s a good idea because it says ok, welcome to our country and here’s a ride for you to take to your new city.

Dorian: It’s a huge eagle, the Mexican flag has an eagle taking over a snake.It welcomes immigrants because it’s powerful and it shows that everyone can come to this state. It shows that there’s a lot of people to help and care for them.

Axel: It’s a baseball world with a hat that says XOXO and below that it says love. I chose these because people play sports all around the world and so if the world was just one team it would be like love. The XOXO means hugs and kisses.

Zindzi: It’s an arch that’s also a bridge. It has a sign that says yay and an arrow pointing the way to go and a heart for love. I was trying to do something that had a lot of ways to represent immigrants from around the world but mostly Mexico.

Eva Maria: There’s a bridge and there’s a bowl of fortunes. There’s a key to open the door to go to the other side. It has a Monarch butterfly to represent people from Mexico. The red symbolizes a safe place to go if people are in danger. The bowl of fortunes is there so people can choose a fortune to show what will happen or change in their lives here.

Max: Mine is a lantern and we’re going to put a little light inside to light it up. I really like it and I really enjoyed making it. It’s inspired by “I lift my lamp beside the golden door” from the poem The New Colassus.

Eliott: It’s a new symbol, it’s a heart peace sign, it’s heart with a peace sign lines, it represents love and peace. It’s not a 3D sculpture, it’s on the ground and people don’t walk through it they walk over it. I chose it because it’s not that complicated and it’s very very simple to do.

Serenah: It’s an Earth to show that anyone can go where ever they want and a butterfly to show that anything is possible. I chose it because I thought if the Earth is there then you can go anywhere and a butterfly can go anywhere so why can’t people? Why can’t people travel to California too? I put a red dot on California on the globe to show people where they are.

Lucia: It’s a rainbow and there’s words on both sides of the rainbow saying welcome. There’s broken chains, butterflies and hearts around it. I felt like it was a good way to say welcome to other people coming to Oakland and that’s why I chose it.