The foundation for understanding our complex, diverse and often unjust world and our place in it is built during the first eight years of life. It is during those years that we form and begin to understand our unique identity, when we start to construct our attitudes towards other people, particularly toward those who are different from us. To develop a positive sense of self and others, children need opportunities to learn about and celebrate who they are, as well as learn about and celebrate a multitude of diverse identities and cultures. From birth, children internalize the messages they receive—from their families, from their teachers, from media—about who is important and who is “other.” Sabot takes this kind of work of relationship, identity, and reflection very seriously.

4th grade made their learning and thinking  visible through a three-dimensional mixed media art piece—a timeline presented as a train with many stations. Carriage doors and various obstacles instruct  who can and cannot ride the train and in which car people may ride. Maybe the train stops at a particular station, but not everyone can board. Sometimes they'll need to get off the train when they do not want to, or need to move to a different car.  Though the project highlights inequity, students are not without hope for global peace. All the while their track is leading to their version of  Utopia.