Stand up to protect school's rich history

I have often attended teacher conferences, classes, meetings, and school board meetings at Sandpoint High School. The murals were always interesting and I enjoyed them each time I visited the school. It was a great way for the senior class to say goodbye to their school and classmates in other grades, and create a history for the school.

I was dismayed to learn that the Lake Pend Oreille School Board and the principal of the high school have voted to paint over the murals, and not allow this year’s seniors to create one.

If they are in need of repair, it would be a great project for some of the art students. I did not attend SHS, but I have been an art teacher and value what students create. It is their school.

Who are the schools for? If there is ownership and pride in the murals that last well into adulthood, why must they be painted over? The school is for the students who attend it, not the adults who work there. I have seen pictures of prisons that are more beautiful than the buildings we send our children to most of the year.

The most attractive schools, to me, are those that have murals inside and out. They are a beacon of welcome to the students that attend. Why must they all look like sterile prisons? The buildings need to be children and student friendly, so they have pride and like being there. It is also something the senior class looks forward to yearly. Why is this “right of passage” being eliminated?

People of this great community, stand up for the students at SHS. Send letters to the school board and request they reverse their decision to destroy the rich history created by the students that have attended SHS, and permit the practice of creating murals to continue.

WENDY CONNER

Sandpoint