Oswego High Artwork Provides Positive Results

OSWEGO, NY – It is hoped that five new murals in the Oswego High School will evoke a positive atmosphere for students and staff.

When doors swung open for the new year the old empty, used for bulletin board showcases had been removed and replaced with colorful student produced murals.

Art teacher Stacey VanWaldick said, “We created five murals based on the new Positive Behavior Intervention Support system framework that has been adopted at the high school. Students worked individually as well a collaboratively on their panels and the end result has been wonderful.”

Continuing she said, “They came out gorgeous and the students worked really hard on them. They really brighten up the hallway. The themes include responsibility, time use, safety, respect and we’re highlighting ‘The Buc Stops Here’ as we are all Buccaneers.”

Marcus Wolfe and Mackenzie Kerley created “The Buc Stops Here..

Wolfe said, “The main idea was to create the theme for ‘The Buc Stops Here’ and we had quite a bit to work with.  We used a giant stop sign and a little boat as well as a Buccaneer. We included pirate ships, water and our famous sunsets.”

Kerley said, “It came out as well as we could have hoped and this was a truly collaborative effort. I really think it makes this part of the school look much better.”

Erin McIntosh stood in front of a mural with numbers and gears.

She said,” I wanted to represent time and that is obvious with the numbers, gears and clock. Last year was my final year of Art Club as it was cut from the budget this year and this is very special to me as it is a nice remembrance and a good way to remember our seniors who have graduated.”

Mackenzie Palmer worked with McIntosh on the mural and said, “Using time wisely is important and I think this gets the message out there.  I love all of the murals. They look just great.”

Super heroes exist and one is quite evident in the mural painted by Justine Harrington and Emily Rumrill.

Harrington said, “Super heroes help us make good decisions and get us out of tough situations. This reminds us of PBIS as well as brightens up the school.”

Respect is more than just respecting one another.

Elizabeth Manion explained her creative piece of art.

She said, “There are symbols representing different things. There are religious symbols, a symbol for the handicapped, a symbol for sexuality respecting gays and lesbians as well as a symbol to recycle as we need to respect the earth and not just people. This was a lot of fun to do and I hope it helps to remind students and staff to respect one another as well as the world.”

Country and the flag were important to Megan Mahaney as she created a waving American Flag mural.

She noted, “I really didn’t know what to do in regards to being responsible and then thought about the responsibility to our country and flag. It works.”

VanWaldick noted, “The purpose of this project was to provide a creative outlet for art students to share their artwork with  school community and to beautify the school as well as provide character education through art. “

She further explained that this was the result of an Oswego City Youth Bureau grant.

Explaining the process of how the students would be involved she said, “They were involved in all stages of the design, planning and implementation of the project. The general concept was provided, but the students worked creatively with the art teachers to develop the artwork to accomplish the desired concept.“

There is no doubt that this project was successful and just one look at the colorful hallway shows that the students achieved their desired goal. missing or outdated ad config

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