Technology Shows Its Colors in The Mission
	Scott Martin,
	CNS News & Features
	Technology and cultural diversity are the themes of a mural just finished at Bryant Elementary School in San Francisco's Mission District where the artistic image closely describes the school.
	As Principal Anastasia Zita speaks from behind her desk, she reveals her fondness for the educational technology depicted in the giant creation. "If the students are doing a science project," she says, "we take them to the experts via teleconferencing."
	As she stands in front of the bright painting with children whizzing by, she calls the viewer's attention to a Chinese dragon in the center of the mural. Then moving to the right, Zita points to an ancient African water wheel. To the left, the Enola Gay which, she explains, was the airplane that bombed Hiroshima. Teachers from the school, she says, are portrayed dismantling the airplane and building windmills.
	She points to the mural's Mayan Pyramid. The Mayan descendants in it, she says, are depicted as Bryant Elementary School students teleconferencing. As she looks around at the children buzzing about, she turns and adds, "Kids do so well with interactive teaching programs."
	Planning for the work of art began last year when Zita talked with artist Joshua Sarantitis and they decided to combine their desires for a mural with their talents for grant writing. Zita's success at grant proposals had already put a lab of Pentium computers in the school. Sarantitis had grant writing experience painting murals.
	In the spring of 1996 they began grant writing for such a masterpiece at the school. The artists titled the mural, "The Dreamers of Today Still Look Towards the Sky." The school refers to the work of art by its themes of culture and technology, themes that are appropriate for the school, Zita feels, because the school's students are primarily Hispanic, African American and Chinese.
	The painter's scaffolding is coming down by the weekend. The mural is set for a dedication ceremony September 11.