Six years after the first stroke of paint touched the wall, Pioneer Valley Regional School students have completed a 125-foot mural showcasing the change of seasons in the eighth-grade hallway.
The mural will be unveiled during the school’s first-ever Spring Arts Celebration, where families and community members are invited to see the artistic talents of Pioneer students in music, fine and performing arts. The event will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. at the school on Wednesday, April 8, as a way to celebrate current students and show younger children in the district what they can look forward to in middle and high school.
“The idea came from our superintendent, who really wants to do district-wide events, to kind of give elementary families a window into what’s happening in our secondary school,” said Director of Teaching and Learning Zevey Steinitz. “Also, she wanted an opportunity to come together and really celebrate the programming that’s happening in the district, that’s pretty remarkable.
“It’s giving them some things to look forward to. They can see, ‘Oh I can have that teacher. I can make ceramic sculptures. I can be part of a marching band in the future,'” Steinitz continued.
In a written statement, Superintendent Patricia Kinsella said the district’s students are talented and the evening will be dedicated to showing off their talents.
“The excellent arts programming in Pioneer schools is helping our students thrive. The event is a terrific chance to celebrate our student artists and musicians and share their work with town residents,” Kinsella said. “People are going to be delighted at seeing just how creative our young people are.”
The evening will include a photo booth, a popcorn bar with different toppings, performances from roving musicians, a pop-up art gallery in the library, make-and-take art stations and a ribbon-cutting for the mural. Art teacher Tracy Derrig said the mural has been in progress since 2019. While they may still add small details after the event, it is nearly complete.
“The original inspiration was that this hallway is the eighth-grade hallway, so there were pencil marks up and down the wall constantly, and the custodians were pulling their hair out, and so we figured maybe they’d have a bit of hesitation if we made it a bit more artistic,” Derrig said. “That was the idea and then we just thought ‘well if we’re gonna do one panel, we might as well do the whole wall.'”
The mural travels through the seasons, detailing the environment around the school through spring, summer, fall and winter. Derrig said that as they worked on it over the years, students were excited to add their own details and “easter eggs.” Elements include a cow jumping over the moon, a Loch Ness monster and scarecrows.
“We really only got this wall mapped out before we were shut down for the pandemic, and then when we came back all of our paint was dry,” Derrig said. “We were able to start it back up, and then it just kind of evolved as we went.”
“It’s been a long project, but it’s so extraordinary,” Steinitz said.
Current seventh-grade students said they were excited to make their mark on the school and join the legacy of a project that began well before they started their middle school careers.
“It’s been really fun that we get to be a part of it, and it’s probably going to be there for a while,” student Kalina Pease said. “It’s cool that students who are coming up from the elementary schools are gonna be able to see it, and I just think it’s cool that we got to do it.”
The mural will be unveiled during a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 6 p.m. Throughout the event, attendees can view other student artworks and watch live performances.
The event is funded in part by the Public School Districts’ Opioid Recovery Trust. Steinitz said schools across the commonwealth have been using these funds for therapeutic interventions, dropout prevention programs and restorative practices. While Pioneer has used some of its funding for those purposes, the district also wants to use those funds to build stronger partnerships with the district’s families.
“We thought, what better than to celebrate the arts as a way to get kids off their phones and promote healthy expression,” Steinitz said. “Being involved in the arts, music and theater … are protective factors against substance use and abuse.”
“Both the fine arts and performing arts create a real sense of belonging for our students,” Principal Anne Scanlan-Emigh said. “For our students who are participating in it, that’s a real center of social connection for them, and I think it becomes a place for kids to show what they can do … I think that’s one of the things that will be really exciting for the community to see.”
Scanlan-Emigh said the event is open to current students and families, past and future, as well as community members who are not involved in the schools. “The doors are open” to anyone who wants to see and celebrate the talents of Pioneer Regional students.
