By Emma Stone and Kyle Roberts
Students for many years will be greeted upon entry into Choudrant High School by the newest creation of Choudrant’s talented art class led by teacher Reggie McLeroy.
The trio of artists consisted of seniors Valerie Chattelier and Ian Starks, along with junior Cherish Young spent multiple months working on the project (for at least an hour every school day), which was publicly unveiled Monday, May 1, at the high school with legendary baseball coach and longtime Choudrant High staple Tony Antley helping to drop the tarp.
“It’s an amazing feeling,” McLeroy said. “(The class) put a lot of hard work and time into it. It started out as a vision and hit a few roadblocks here and there. But, you know, with anything in life, when you over come those road blocks, it gives you confidence to continue to pursue what you are trying to do.
“And for my kids to start seeing it come together, it pushed them to want to work on it more and more.”
The team used a projector to trace the chosen design on the wall and decided to incorporate different clubs, the mascot and
logos.
The student team of Chattelier, Starks, and Young reminiscence about McLeroy encouraging them to put their strengths into the mural.
“I did the stars which took me a minute,” said Young. “I had the hardest luck with them but it was fun.”
The project took over two months to complete within 50-minute class periods. Each student put their own personal style into
the mural from stars to outlining.
“Most of what I did was outlining,” said Starks. “It was fun to get all the colors completely straightened out.”
Chattelier spoke about her past generations of family attending CHS and being able to take part in Choudrant’s history.
“The mural was a way for me to leave my mark on the high school before I leave,” said Chattelier. “I feel like this mural was a
way for me to leave my legacy.”
The mural measures seven feet tall by eight feet wide, with the framing constructed by Choudrant’s Ag program.
“This mural was an opportunity to work with three young and very talented artists,” said McLeroy.
