By Joshua Koch
Public Communications
At the end of May, the doors of the first elementary school built in Kingwood will officially close after 53 years of service to the community.
Foster Elementary is set to be rebuilt over the next two years and be ready to reopen for the 2026-2027 school year with a brand new building in its current location as a part of Bond 2022.
With the clock ticking down on time left inside these halls, Julie Gallow, who was raised in Kingwood and has served as the Foster Elementary art teacher for the past 11 years, was approached with an idea to commemorate the original building.
Following their annual Art to Remember fundraiser, where parents could purchase their students art on commemorative pieces such as t-shirts, mugs or ornaments, Foster parent BethAnne Garcia approached Gallow with the idea of creating original artwork to turn into an ornament keepsake of the school.
Gallow loved the idea and went to work.
After spending roughly six hours on two original pieces, she had created artwork of the front of Foster Elementary and the centerpiece of the mural that is painted inside the school’s cafeteria.
“We wanted something that families, alumni and staff could have to commemorate our old school building before we get a new school building,” Gallow said. “It's a lot of fond memories here at Foster and the building itself. The mural is something that all alumni would remember and probably have a fond place in their heart from their school days here.
“So, we thought that having artwork of the school building and an artwork of part of the mural would be a nice thing to create for them.”
Purchase Commemorative Foster Elementary Ornaments - $20 Each
For Gallow, she is looking forward to when the holiday season comes around and she’ll have a special pair of new ornaments to hang on her tree at home.
“It means so much to me to have these memories in an ornament that everyone can hang up and remember our school year after year,” Gallow said. “I'm imagining myself putting it on my Christmas tree. I mean, they could be put anywhere. But year after year as I'm decorating my tree getting the Foster ornaments out and remembering the school. It's a special memory.”
The two pieces of artwork have been turned into commemorative ornaments, which can be purchased online for $20 through April 30 to support the Foster PTA.
All current Foster Elementary teachers will be receiving an ornament as a gift from the PTA at year’s end.
More Information on the Original Artwork
“The Bulldog one I took from the mural, it's in the very center of the mural in the cafeteria. I added the trees around it because it just needed a background. And I thought the best background would be the trees of the livable forest because the Foster Lumber Company came through and cleared the lot in order for us to have this school here. So that's why it's named Foster. And so I added the trees and the Bulldog as a lumberjack and it has a sign of the lumber company.” - Julie Gallow
“The other one is the front of the school. I really enjoyed drawing that one and especially putting all the trees and the greenery around it because we are such an iconic part of the livable forest.” - Julie Gallow