URBANA — A large, colorful painting of a tiger in a field of flowers will now greet students in a main hallway at Urbana Middle School.
A group of about 30 students in the school’s summer program unveiled the mural Thursday morning after three weeks of work.
Teamwork and collaboration were focal points of the project.
“When you give them an opportunity to work on those skills that they already have, those talents that are already present in them, that’s them learning that it helps the community,” project coordinator Jack Schools said. “There’s an outlet for it that benefits them and everyone around them.”
The project was unique for Schools, a student-engagement advocate for seventh-graders who found himself leading a classroom setting for the first time.
He jumped at the chance to lead a social and emotional learning class that emphasized more than just academics. Fostering relationships between students was paramount, especially early on.
“If we started in the first week, there were a lot of opportunities for people to make fun of each other or tear down each other’s contributions,” Schools said. “We spent the first week doing activities that would build trust and build, you know, respect in our groups. And basically respect for art, too.”
The mural stands out in a centrally located hallway that nearly every student at the school has to use on a daily basis. It extends nearly to the ceiling and spans the distance between Ashley Dodson’s science classroom and an elevator equipment closet.
Some of the mural — the tiger’s claw — ever so slightly extends onto the doorframe of the classroom. Otherwise, the orange, yellow and white of the tiger pop off a background of dark green grass.
“I think of primary colors, and then (secondary and tertiary colors), and then I think about what would go good together,” said Zaaiya Smith, an eighth-grader who helped pick the colors. “Which ones are opposites and which ones kind of match. That’s how I tell the colors apart in order to find the perfect color for a picture.”
Fellow eighth-grader Eli Mansfield helped with the tiger’s chin, whiskers and ears, adding touches of red where she felt a bit of extra color was necessary.
Large light-blue flowers dot the grass to the tiger’s right, surrounded by handprints of students who helped paint it. The flowers were Mansfield’s idea.
“I actually decided these flowers needed to be here because I saw one while I was going for a walk,” Mansfield said. “It was beautiful.”
The creative touch is no surprise given Mansfield’s artistic prowess. She likes to draw people and animals — and animal people. Fluff, fur, tails and other elements the mural required were already second nature for her.
“I’m starting on my portfolio,” Mansfield said. “Now I have a Twitter account (with my friend), and we started it together. And that’s just where we post stuff that we’re super proud of and we’d like other people to see. They want to be a tattoo artist. I want to be a general artist.”
Tucked between the tiger and the classroom door are a set of letters that spell out “UMS” in a graffiti-inspired bubble font with a tiger-print pattern filling them in.
Many students chipped in to complete the feature, a small but noticeable token of the school’s identity. But it was eighth-grader Duran Glenn who was recruited to get the ball rolling.
“I kind of messed it up and stuff, but people, like, they made it better,” Glenn said. “And I’m so proud that they did; it actually looks better than what I did.”
Excitement and optimism abounded as the mural was unveiled on the last day of the school’s summer program.
The pending start of summer for the kids coincided with the final day of Joseph Wiemelt’s tenure as principal. He was on hand for the ceremony alongside incoming Principal Derrick Cooper.
“This has blown away what I was imagining,” Wiemelt told the crowd, noting his hesitation when Allan first pitched the idea of the mural.
But that initial hesitation was quickly replaced by enthusiasm.
Wiemelt — set to remain with the Urbana school district in a new capacity — will still enjoy the mural on occasion. Cooper and his students will be able to soak it in on a daily basis when the new school year begins in August.
“You all did a tremendous job working with the students on this mural,” Cooper said. “I look forward to getting to know all of you.”
As he gets to know the students involved, he’ll likely be struck by their ingenuity.
“These kids are incredible people,” Schools said. “I want to give them opportunities to contribute to things and understand that they can and it’s possible. If I could describe them, they’re vibrant, they’re fierce, and they’re loud. And that’s a good thing.”
