Connecticut teens turn dusty pencils into a global art movement

A simple friendship in a freshman-year gym class has grown into a global movement led by two Connecticut high school students.

In 2023, Jordan Cheng and Grace Millard — now juniors at Amity Regional High School in Woodbridge, Connecticut —discovered they had more in common than just their class schedules.

Surrounded by sweaty teens in a "sticky gym-class," as they describe it, the two bonded over their shared passions for art and activism.

As time went by, their connection grew deeper. They shared concerns about climate change and their future, and found comfort and expression in different art forms.

"As we talked more and more, we kind of realized a problem within our community," Cheng says, "and that was our school wasn't sustainable."

Cheng and Millard noticed pencils and erase