PARADISE VALLEY, AZ — Fifth graders in Paradise Valley have grabbed the attention of a major art company, which in return has led them to make some changes.
It started in Carrie Bloomston's art class at Phoenix Country Day School.
"We had been studying all the many shades of human skin tone," Bloomston said.
So when students began working on a new project, she says they noticed something about one of the glaze bottles used to paint ceramics.
"One of the colors was kind of like a medium beige color and it was called 'Birthday Suit'," Bloomston said.
"We were wondering why it was a white color if it was called 'Birthday Suit', because everyone has their own type of birthday suit. No one's the same," 5th grader Erin Patterson said.
So the kids wrote a letter to Mayco, the company that created the bottle of glaze. They asked the company to change the bottle's name.
"There needed to be change to where it needed to be a different color, or more colors so it was more inclusive," 5th grader James Jones said.
The class got a response soon after. In a letter, Mayco's CEO told the students that as of last week, the name 'Birthday Suit' was officially changed to 'Cashew Later'. The company even sent the class the very first bottle with the new name.
"She said it was really important to them to give them a voice," Bloomston said.
The students say they're happy to spread a message of inclusion.
"I felt relieved that they understood our side of the story," Patterson said.
"Even though we're kids we still were able to do something that adults can do," Jones said.
