At the beginning of the year, many eyes were caught by some beautiful additions to our school. These murals are a monument to our school’s spirit. They offer words of wisdom to Dallastown students while also serving as a testament to Dallastown’s values of leadership, ingenuity, and creativity. 

According to Assistant Principal, Dr. Bumsted, the murals weren’t supposed to be murals at first; they were meant to be locker skins. 

“We wanted to get these artistic skins for the outsides of the lockers, and Dr. Wilson worked with Student Council to appropriate funds for creative designs. The Student Council voted to have a nice budget, but unfortunately, that budget wasn’t gonna be enough (to do what we wanted),” Bumsted said.  

The compromise was to make murals instead of locker skins, deciding to use the funds allocated for the new murals. 

The goal was to brighten up the hallways and provide thought-provoking and inspiring quotes that represent our school’s commitment to determined and driven students. 

The murals were curated with the help of the AI chatbot, Google Gemini, to both find quotes and create images. Those AI-generated images were then edited, printed onto vinyl sheets, and displayed on the walls in our hallway.  

While many members of the school community enjoy the bright updates to previously boring walls, some wish the murals were a just little different. 

“I think that there should be more painted murals designed by students, not printed ones,” junior art student Julia Schnaekel said.  

While this isn’t out of the questions, logistically, hand painted murals can be tough.

“Student murals can take a long time and sometimes students graduate and you have a mural that is not fully completed,” said Bumstead. 

The goal for these was to create more of an immediate impact.

The Student Council is planning to expand into the cafeteria and the math hallway. The cafeteria will display a large portrait with a brass plaque to commemorate the annual winner of the Greatest Class Ever award.