Beginning process of creating the mural in the spring of 2019 at Cranberry High School (By Darian Senn)
Cranberry Chronicles staff
Beginning in May of this year, students in Cranberry High School’s gym classes started creating a mural as part of a Shape America campaign. It was meant to be a reminder to live well.
Both junior and senior high gym classes spent time painting wood shaped like Jenga blocks then adding a word or short phrase that relates to health and wellness on the front of the block.
According to health and physical education teacher Andrea Barrett, the project went over well among the classes.
She stated, “I believe the students embraced the idea of having an open mind and enjoyed being able to create something.”
The painted blocks were assembled by the P.E student teacher to spell out the words “Health Moves Minds” and hung above the doors in the commons area, leading into the gymnasium, over the summer.
Physical education teacher Shawn Bean stated, “It is a unique way to have students have a voice for wellness and advocacy.”
The idea for the mural came from Bean and Barrett at the beginning of the last year as they wanted to create something that made the gymnasium feel more like a classroom and less of an area that is just used for sporting events.
Complete mural hanging above the gym doors in the commons (By Gabe Dresbach/Student contributor)
This article was started by Darian Senn, a 2019 graduate of CHS, and completed by current Cranberry Chronicles students. Photographs were also taken by Gabe Dresbach, a student at Cranberry High School and a member of Cranberry Chronicles, the school’s journalism/publications group.
