Partners In Education Foundation, Inc. (PIE) is proud to announce the endowment of a new fund, Powell City Pride Project Fund. Sponsored by Mr. David Powell, it will facilitate mural projects by the El Dorado High School art classes that demonstrate school and/or city pride while expanding the students’ skills.
With this year being El Dorado’s 150th anniversary, it was important to Mr. Powell to get the first one completed this spring and offered the east side of his building located at the corner of Fourth Ave. and Main St. for the project. Using the anniversary theme, the students picked out a design to honor the occasion. Having never tackled a large-scale mural, instructors Dee Thompson and Dustin Harris reached out to some area mural artists for advice. Meanwhile, Tim Engels of Engels Property Management was kind enough to assist the project with surface preparation. For the next couple of weeks, the students dodged a few rainstorms and transformed the building’s east side. They met during school hours, after school, and even on a weekend or two to get the project completed.
Mr. Powell’s vision has come to life. Now he is challenging other high visibility building owners to follow his lead and put some school and city pride on display throughout El Dorado. Anyone interested can contact Rod Blackburn, Development Director for PIE at rod.blackburn@pie490.org, 316.322.4800. Partners In Education Foundation is a not-for-profit foundation established in 1989 to enhance the educational opportunities for the students of USD 490.
Left to Right: Art Instructor Dustin Harris, PIE President Cathy Eubanks, Lois Powell, David Powell, Kayleigh Morris, Ashleigh Baird, Rylee Marnell, Lilly Rogers, Sarah Rose, Art Instructor Dee Thompson, Gibson Baker, EHS Principal Bruce Lolling, and PIE board member Carolyn DeWire.