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Art teacher Liza Linder said Riverdale Principal Carol Cantu saw the mural Linder created at Berwyn Heights Elementary School last year and wanted to have one at Riverdale. Linder also teaches art at Seat Pleasant Elementary School, rotating between the schools throughout the year.

‘‘But it’s my goal to get something like this at every elementary school in the county,” Linder said.

To depict the school’s diversity, Linder asked students to draw self-portraits and different plants, animals and housing.

‘‘There’s even diversity in where people live,” she said. ‘‘So we have pictures of regular homes and apartment homes.”

She then sat down with her husband, a professional artist, to choose 24 of the pictures that would make sense in the mural. Fifth-grader Yicel Bonilla will have two drawings featured.

‘‘There were a lot of beautiful drawings, but we had to look for portraits that would translate to the mural,” she said. ‘‘Because of the size of the mural, many [drawings] will become life-size, so we had to consider scale as well.”

Students have been working on the project during their art classes for about a month, but Linder called on the rest of the community to put their gluing talents to work Monday. Linder sent notices home with Riverdale students and sent an invitation to Riverdale Park officials, who advertised the ‘‘glue-in” on the town’s access channel and list serve.

‘‘It’s a community-building experience. I want the children and the parents to feel like artists,” she said. ‘‘We want the children [and the community members] to come to school and feel some ownership.”

Many community members visited the school Monday, including Teri Hudson Lee, school region two instructional specialist, and school board member Donna Hathaway Beck (At-large) of Upper Marlboro brought her husband to help out as well.

Husdon Lee said she was excited for the opportunity to get involved.

‘‘I came prepared to glue,” she said.

Maceo Alredge, 7, who was one of the 23 students whose artwork was chosen to be included in the mural, brought his mother and brother to help with the gluing.

‘‘I’m happy [my self-portrait was chosen] because I really like my picture,” he said.

His mother, Jeanine Alredge of Beltsville, who is also a paraprofessional at Riverdale, said she was happy to contribute to the project.

‘‘All [Maceo] talks about is ‘my mural, my mural, my mural,’” she said. ‘‘That’s why we’re here. He’s so excited.”

Linder said she expects the project to cost about $2,600. The cost includes the glass pieces, boards, concrete adhesive and installation. To help pay for the mural, the Riverdale Lions Club and County Councilman Eric Olson (D-Dist. 3) of College Park each contributed $1,000. Linder said the school has applied for a grant from the Washington Post to cover the remaining costs.

‘‘Of course all of the labor is done by the kids, teachers and parents,” Linder said.

She said the actual creation of the mural should be complete by the winter holiday with the installation and unveiling to take place in the spring.

E-mail Maya T. Prabhu at mprabhu@gazette.net.