As the year approaches the end, students often look back over the year and reminisce over their memories built within the walls of the school. However, since the renovation over the summer, the murals that have been the legacy of past students were covered by a new coat of paint. In an effort to bring creativity and connection to the halls, clubs like Best Buddies and the Art Honors Society have made meaningful contributions to the community through their painted murals.
The addition of hand-painted murals brings color and community to the school’s white walls. For example, members of the Art Honors Society worked closely with athletic trainer Brenna Allen to design a mural for the athletic training room. “Brenna reached out and we’ve been in contact about this idea of making a mural and the training medicine room. They had blank walls and they wanted something that represented Wootton a bit more. Us officers planned out dates during lunch and advisory when we would have volunteers from the society come in and help trace it and paint it. Over the course of, maybe a month or so, we were able to complete it,” art honors society President Maddie Zincke said.
Murals painted by students allow them to feel connected to the school and take pride in being a Patriot. “I think it’s super cool, especially because in the past, all the other murals were painted over it when they were redoing the school. I think it’s really fun and it adds more color and more patriotism to the school in general,” Zincke said.
This was not the first mural designed and painted by AHS as they previously designed a mural on the baseball field’s dugout that reads “Patriot Country.” AHS has collaborated with clubs and organizations to bring spirit to the building. “That was our first mural kind of as a society inside the school, but last year we worked with the baseball team, and we actually made a mural in the dugout,” Zincke said.
Currently, AHS is working with all of the world language honors societies and ASL teacher Lea Clark to design a mural for the staircase closest to the department. The proposal for the mural was approved last school year and has been in the works since then. The draft consists of a circle connecting four icons to represent each of the language classes offered at this school: Spanish, French, Chinese and ASL.“We decided on a mural for two reasons. First, it provides an opportunity to build community between students studying a world language since a large art installation such as this is an inherently collaborative process. Second, since it will be a permanent addition to the world language hallway, we believe it will build community with the rest of Wootton students by giving them a glimpse of the importance of learning a world language and connecting with others who speak our languages both in our community and around the world,” Spanish Honors Society sponsor and Spanish teacher James Fetterman.
In addition to each icon, the word “unity” will be written in each of the respective languages. “The goal of our project is to educate Wootton students on the variety of countries that speak the languages we study in school in order to emphasize the importance and applicability of our education. Moreover, the theme for this year’s mural will be “Unity” by which our goal is to instill a sense of community by bringing together students who study different languages and demonstrate how our learning another language can build bridges of understanding and develop a sense of global citizenship,” Fetterman said.
