As students returned to school on August 10, they probably couldn’t help but notice that the media center at Hunter’s Green Elementary (HGE) had undergone a major transformation.
Previously, the walls were decorated with banners, representing books that had been enjoyed by students during the school’s 25-year history.
“They were nice, but they were kind of old and dated,” says PTA president Jamie Priest.
It was the vision of HGE principal Gaye Holt to transform the walls to come alive with pictures that would inspire students as they visit the media center.
“The media center is the hub of the school, and we want our kids in here,” said Holt during her remarks at the official ribbon-cutting ceremony for the school’s newly painted mural on Thursday, Aug. 25.
“The media center has been transformed into a warm and inviting area for students as they choose a book, learn new things and explore their world through technology,” said HGE media specialist Nancy Elliott during her remarks.
From fiction and fantasy to science and math, the mural represents many different genres of books that can be explored in the media center.
“Nonfiction is a big part of reading,” Elliott explained later. “Math and science are a big part of our curriculum and I felt that they should be represented in our mural.”
Priest added, “Every time I look at the mural, I feel like I see something new.”
“I love the variety of it,” agreed Elliott, pointing out a kid investigating, a dolphin that looks like it’s about to swim right off the wall, a space ship soaring through outer space and realistic-looking animals such as a giraffe, panda and elephant.
Elliott is just the second media specialist in the school’s history and has b
een in the position for 10 years. She helped to design the mural with local artists J.P. and Vanessa Parra of CAP Murals, who worked all summer on ladders and scaffolds to create it. It was finished the day before school started.
“It was the shortest summer,” said Holt, “but it was my favorite. I came up to the media center to visit three times a day because it amazed me.”
The process of painting the mural was commemorated in a media center display that shows the before, during and after of creating such a significant piece of art.
The mural was funded in part by the PTA, by the media center budget and by the school budget. The PTA contribution included a legacy gift from the class of 2015, and a large butterfly was painted in the mural as, “an extension of the memorial butterfly garden” planted outside in memory of Nick Wolf, a fifth grade HGE student who passed away shortly before he would have graduated from the school.
“Our school is taking big steps forward,” says Priest. “This is another step, and something I think the kids are going to remember, even after they leave this school.”
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