Northern High art students leave their mark on Windy Hill Elementary library

Several high school student artists are bringing new life to the walls of Windy Hill Elementary School’s library.

The Northern High School National Art Honors Society members, some of them returning to their old stomping grounds, have been covering the elementary school library walls in hand-painted murals over the past year.

Christopher Angus, librarian at Windy Hill, reached out to all four public high schools in Calvert County, asking if any had art students who would be interested in filling in the library’s empty walls.

Northern’s National Art Honors Society stepped up to volunteer — and left four new murals on the walls last year.

“It’s definitely transformed our library,” Angus said. “The work they’ve done is absolutely incredible. They put in countless hours of their own time.”

In January, club members returned at Angus’ request to paint two new murals.

Northern NAHS President Emma Nguyen has returned to her old elementary school multiple afternoons each week to work on the new murals with other NAHS members.

“Since I went to this school, I remember that I really loved murals,” said Nguyen. “It inspired me when I was a kid, so I kind of want to bring that back to the school with the library murals here.”

Windy Hill Elementary art teacher Margaret Pike painted the library’s first few murals, allowing her former students to follow in her footsteps.

The two newest murals will feature characters from popular children’s books, including “Diary of a Wimpy Kid,” “The Cat in the Hat” and the “Peanuts” gang.

“It’s cool to hear from the teachers, staff and students how much they like them,” Caroline Hyder, Northern NAHS vice president, said.

Hyder and Angus each recalled students excitedly recognizing their favorite characters on the walls in the early stages of pencil sketches.

“It’s really cool for them to see what’s possible,” Angus said, noting that the murals painted by high school students serve as an inspiration to the elementary schoolers, especially those with a love for art. “It just makes it that much more worth it.”

Angus is hopeful that the murals painted by the group of Northern students will inspire other high schools in the county to collaborate with middle and elementary schools to share similar experiences.

Though these murals scheduled to be completed in mid-April will leave the library walls almost completely covered, that doesn’t mean Northern’s art students are done at Windy Hill Elementary. When teachers walk through the library, Angus said, they ask when the art honor society is going to paint their classrooms.