The new mural to get people talking about mental health issues has now been finished at Paw Paw High School, and students and teachers are hoping it will keep a dialogue going among the community.
As we’ve reported previously, Paw Paw High School art teacher Sarah Bentley wanted to send a positive message for Mental Health Awareness Month after she lost her son to mental health issues. She spoke with students, they liked the mural idea, and then they brought in artist Marlo Broughton to help.
Bentley says the mural was finished on the 1,800 square foot outdoor wall at the high school this week.
“Marlo and students were just so creative with adding student poetry, different images of kids that represent our student body,” Bentley said. “We have our Red Wolf imagery and just really beautiful colors.”
The artist was brought in by English teacher Sean Kubik, who tells us raising the money and getting this mural finished has been rewarding.
“It was great seeing the community come together and then students kind of coming together and then bringing in Marlo and so it’s kind of cool to see all these different parts of the community, parts of age groups, coming together to help out,” Kubik said.
The school raised about $4,000 to complete the mural, but they’re not stopping. Bentley says they’ll continue to raise more funds to spread more positive messages on the building walls.
The students have also launched an Ice Bucket Challenge to get people talking about mental health, and they’ve nominated teachers, administrators, and even Governor Gretchen Whitmer to accept.
