Kevin Zuo, Reporter
In June of 2007, students and teachers introduced a ten-foot mural to the cafeteria, in addition to the colorful murals in the theatre hallway. The vivid colors and detailed imagery of the murals in the high school tell a story of the high school from over ten years ago.
Freshman Benjamin Reagan said that murals tell him something about the students who used to go to the high school, “By walking through the school, I get a good picture of past years and past students,” he said. “I really think that I’m being told a story walking through the school.”
Principal William Egan said the school has a unique story and that murals can help tell that story. “I think high schools have a life, every year students are different. Murals give you an idea of the life and the culture of the school at the time,” he said. Mr. Egan said that even when he first came to the high school in 2015, murals gave him an idea of what students were like at the time. “I knew we had really talented students, but I think that murals tell you more about the culture, and about what the school values,” he said.
Art teacher Jeanne McDonagh helped organize the creation of the NCHS Student Life Mural. The mural was first conceptualized through photographs of students around the high school. “I presented the idea for the mural to my photo class, and their task was to take pictures of their friends doing what they do,” she said.
She said that these photographs, which showed what students did at the time, were transformed into a painted mural in the back of the cafeteria. “We took the photograph and we cut the person out in photoshop, we put the pictures on a canvas and from there we painted the canvas to put it on the mural. “The mural is massive and that helps it tell a story,” she said. “When you see something large, it’s a physical presence you’re feeling too. It’s the scale.”
“You see these kids are talented but in uniquely different ways, and they have true joys outside the classroom that you might not know until you really dive into the school, and a mural helps bring that,” Mr. Egan said.
