Julie Morton, Astronomy teacher at Page County High School, has a friend, Allison Remick, who expressed an interest in being a career switcher from government consulting to teaching high school art. Unfortunately, like many who would like to make the switch to education, financially it’s just not possible for her.
Julie told her friend that even if she can’t work as an art teacher, there were still ways to contribute to Page County High School and gain the experience of working with high school students. And, so began the plan of designing and creating mural art within PCHS. Julie and Allison met a few times to work on the overall design, essentially making sure it incorporated multiple themes from Astronomy. While creating the design they decided to leave some things unlabeled to allow students to realize how much they’d learned by comparing their knowledge of the images on the mural in the beginning of the year to that of their knowledge at the end of the semester. Classes were involved in brainstorming what important parts should be included in the mural.
All students interested were encouraged to become involved, and everyone was reassured that artistic abilities were not required. Students were also reminded that this was a way for them to leave a lasting mark on PCHS. In the end, 11 students, Ms. Morton, and Allison Remick were involved in bringing the mural project to life.
Now that the mural is a permanent part of the school, it will be used throughout the year for various activities in Astronomy to reinforce the learning that has taken place in the classroom. This mural represents many hours of dedication, creativity, and talent involved in making an idea become a reality.
