Fort St. John school looks to design and create mosaic mural

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C.— Teachers and students in Fort St. John are looking to create a mosaic mural for their school.

The faculty and students of Dr. Kearney Middle School are working to create a new mosaic mural to give current students a lasting connection to the school. 

Dale Boissonneault, school counsellor and project co-lead, explained: “Early in fall, we had a parent-teacher interview.

“I noticed a number [of parents] walking up [and] down the halls, looking [at] the ceiling aisles, many of them have been painted by students in the past. 

“As they were walking, they were pointing out [saying], ‘I painted that 10 years ago, I painted that 15 years ago,’ they still had an attachment to the school.” 

He said: “They’re not allowed to paint the ceiling tiles anymore because of a fire hazard, but I came across mosaic murals where everybody who participates paints a little tile and comes together in terms of a big scene.”

Boissonneault said: “This isn’t a project just for us teachers, it’s a project for the students to take ownership and to come up with their ideas.” 

While he had a list of about 50 to 60 interested students from each class, only 10 students meet regularly to discuss and come up with ideas for a theme. 

“The group’s [theme] had to do with creativity, education and a community,” he said. 

Cougars, which is the school mascot, will also be a part of the overall theme. 

Boissonneault noted the next step was to come up with a design that could be blown up and he wants the mural to be placed outside the school building so the public can see it. 

At the recent School District 60 trustees meeting held at the school, students from the project showed design ideas to the board. 

The selected design will be blown up and divided among the students who want to participate. Students will then paint clay tiles – roughly four inches by four inches – with their own individual design but using a main, allocated colour, which will come together to form the bigger picture. 

Boissonneault said: “[These tiles would be] mounted on what I envision is a type of cement baseboard, [coated] with a good resin or good glue that is not impacted by the weather, and then sealed.” 

He expects the tile painting will be done in the spring but the mural will not be ready until fall. 

Boissonneault has estimated the tiles will cost around $500 before tax and believes the main expense for this project will be the cement baseboard, resin or glue, or waterproofing. 

He does not yet have an estimate of how much the entire project could cost.

He said: “A number of our students want to involve themselves in terms of the fundraising. 

“I’m going to come up with a way for the students to write letters to different companies saying, ‘[This is] something we’re doing and there’s a lot of expense, we would like your support in some ways.’

“We’ll be approaching our parent association [which have] some funding for projects like this. 

“[I want] the students involved as much as possible because it’s a tremendous learning [experience] for them as well.”