Each year, Schuylerville Elementary School art teacher Michael Shea works with 5th grade students to create murals in the hallways of the elementary building. Each of the murals are paired with a “street name,” designed to give each area a unique identity: Pinetree Avenue, Apple Drive, Blueberry Road, Pumpkin Path, and Lemondrop Lane. The permanent artwork serves as a 5th grade class contribution as they move on to their middle school years, and each mural is created with a different theme in mind.
The 2024 mural, titled “Mehan Trail” was created in memory of veteran elementary school teacher, Dave Mehan. During his tenure of almost 26 years, Mr. Mehan was known as a devoted educator with an unmatched sense of humor, a person who had a huge heart, and an individual who had a unique ability to connect with students and staff in an incredibly meaningful way.
The mural, adjacent to Apple Drive, is filled with images of nature, reading, kindness, and peace, images that are reflective of Mr. Mehan’s legacy. For more than two decades, Mr. Mehan’s students loved, adored, and looked up to him, and he worked to know the whole child. The district published a memoir article in August of 2023 after Mr. Mehan’s passing; below is one of the many reflections, which the finished product of the mural encompasses:
“Mr. Mehan never met a stranger. He was kind and funny, and put people he met at ease immediately. To have been part of his life means you experienced a special kind of joy.”