What does The school yard represent?

The school yard represents the larger world outside of the safety of a harbor. Once a ship leaves the harbor, it is subject to the wind and the waves. It may encounter danger on the open sea. Likewise, the ARTT room was a place of safety for the kids who were in Ms. Laverne's class. However, once they step outside the school, danger and difficulty exist. Ashton in particular is attacked by some older kids as he walks through the school yard every day. Because he feels safe in the ARTT room, not only physically but emotionally as well, he is able to confess that he is being bullied, despite the shame it brings him. Doing so, enables him to find compassion among his friends and the safety of the harbor is extended outward to create a wall of protection for him as they all walk through the school yard together.