Chilcotin Road Elementary installs active travel-themed mural

Jane Wellburn, with the Chilcotin Road Parent Advisory Council, addresses the crowd at the unveiling of a new mural at the elementary school in June. (Ruth Lloyd photo - Williams Lake Tribune)

School community members and supporters gathered in the shade to hear about the newly installed mural at Chilcotin Road Elementary School on June 27, 2023. (Ruth Lloyd photo - Williams Lake Tribune)

Artist Sarah Sigurdson stands in front of the newly installed mural she painted after designing it based on the input and ideas of Chilcotin Road Elementary School students. (Ruth Lloyd photo - Williams Lake Tribune)

Mary Forbes, a School District 27 school board trustee and mother of Chilcotin Road students, takes a photo of the active travel-themed mural newly installed at the school. (Ruth Lloyd photo - Williams Lake Tribune)

Students, teachers, parent advisory council (PAC) members and community supporters celebrated a new mural on the side of Chilcotin Road Elementary School on June 27.

Installed just in time to be celebrated before school let out for the summer, the mural was a collaborative school-wide project.

Artist Sarah Sigurdson, whose daughter attends the school, worked with students to create the design and then painted the mural herself.

Jane Wellburn, who led the project, as part of a BC Healthy Communities Active School Travel pilot project grant, said a few words thanking Sigurdson, school administration, school district trustees and her fellow PAC members and the funders.

The mural was a combination of input from every class in the school, and featured some of the things students might see while walking or biking to school as well as some fantasies straight from student imaginations on ways to get to school.

From riding dinosaurs and cougars to being carried by an eagle, all the way to riding their own bicycles, the students imagined a world where active travel was an everyday adventure.

The mural also included wild roses and the view of the lake students can catch glimpses of.

Sigurdson painted the mural onto panels which were then installed on the side of the building.

The mural is only one part of the work done as part of the pilot program. The PAC also hosted bike rodeos at the school, skills workshops for mothers and daughters, and conducted surveys to find out what barriers prevent students from riding or walking to school or their bus stops. A trail-building workshop and work to improve a trail which connects the school to the Westridge neighbourhood was also undertaken.

Funds for the project were provided from BC Healthy Communities and Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure Active School Travel program, Cariboo Regional District, and the Central Cariboo Arts and Culture Society.

READ MORE: Williams Lake’s Chilcotin Road Elementary PAC gets rolling on active travel program

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Cycling School District No 27 (Cariboo-Chilcotin)Williams Lake