Ottawa Elementary recently added some color into their hallways. Our Heidi Paxson finds out how a little bit of color could bring out the best in their students.
The first thing that students will see next week when they go back to school is murals like these.
Several Ottawa Elementary staff members recently took a trip to the Ron Clark Academy in Atlanta, Georgia for a Teacher Education Day, which is what inspired the idea of painting the walls.
"The atmosphere of that school really allowed us see how that could impact the students and we wanted to bring of that back here to Ottawa. Just wanted to have that welcome and stimulating environment for the students here," says Principal Audrey Beining.
The changes that were made to the school were funded through both community donations and school fundraisers. Area Artist Oscar Velasquez turned Principals Beining's imagination into a reality, through his painting skills. Kindergarten teacher Erica Berhoff is excited for her incoming students to kick off their education in a welcoming environment.
"With kindergarten, this is their first experience with school so I'm excited to see how they take their ideas and carry them through their school career at Ottawa elementary," says Berhoff.
Berhoff is not the only teacher excited about the new energy being brought into the school.
"The fun that they'll have, they'll want to come to school and we have so many things happen within the classroom and as a school that they'll just be running off the bus," says teacher Chris Kuhlman.
Principal Beining says that this is only the beginning and that this will not be the only creative project that the school will do.
