Mural project reflects lively school spirit

COSTA MESA — When College Park Elementary School students return to class today, their campus will be a little more colorful — and it may get more so over the coming weeks.

Parent Lori Robnett and teacher Allison Loftis started a push last week to beautify College Park, lugging brushes and paint cans to the central Costa Mesa campus. On Thursday, they neared completion of their first project: a mural of the American flag, painted in the spot where the school holds its morning flag deck assemblies.

“Every Wednesday morning, they just put a little funky flag here,” said Robnett, a member of the PTA. “Now they have a nice colorful one so the whole campus can see it.”

The flag was the first of four murals that Robnett and Loftis planned for this spring. The duo, who said teacher Leslie Murtaugh would join them later, had outlined designs for a giant College Park logo, a scene of children playing and a mosaic of small tiles painted by students.

The week before, the PTA raised funds for the project by selling more than 100 tiles to students and parents. Robnett said that other fundraisers throughout the year would cover the costs of paint and supplies. The idea for the project, she said, came from asking students what they would do to improve the campus.

“The kids kept asking for pictures,” she said, noting that a few had suggested a large-scale American flag.

Robnett hoped to have all four murals done by the end of May. She got a valuable assistant in Loftis, a 1995 Newport Harbor High School graduate who said she created a mural design that her class gave as its senior gift.

“Anything to help the school,” Loftis said as she brushed up the stars on the College Park flag. “There’s so much that goes on in the classroom that the public never sees. If we can get some of that reflected on the walls, why not?”