Hilo High School is still the “Home of the Vikings,” but a new mural unveiled Monday covered that mantra, which had long been painted on the side of a campus building.
That slogan, along with an old Hilo High logo, adorned a wall outside the school’s swimming pool, but the bright and colorful new mural taking its place highlights the history and culture of Hilo.
Principal Bob Dircks said community concern about the removal of the “Home of the Vikings” text began when work on the mural started.
He addressed the concern in a post on the school’s website.
“No one really understood the immensity of the mural until the wall got painted,” Dircks said after the unveiling Monday. “Then people wanted to know, ‘Wait a minute, you’re taking away a big part of our history,’ which somebody likened to decades, and I don’t think that wall has been like that for more than maybe 15 years.”
Many concerned about the change are alumni, he said.
“And they feel that you’re taking away what they recognize as ‘Viking pride,’” said Dircks. “… I think the big key is the word change. People really (have) a hard time dealing with change when they only recognize their alma mater for what it represented then and not what it represents now.”
Jason Trimble, vice principal in charge of ninth-grade, said the idea for the mural began four years ago when the school began working with Kumuola Marine Science Education Center in Keaukaha, taking freshmen on “place-based, culturally relevant excursions.”
“Then three years ago, we had the idea of essentially displaying that type of service project through art on campus, and the idea of murals came up,” he said. “ … We did discuss it at the School Community Council meeting. We discussed various vendors that could possibly do it, and what ultimately we came short on was funding.”
Last year, Trimble said Hilo High received a School Design Innovation Grant — totaling just more than $50,000 — from state Superintendent Christina Kishimoto to fund the mural and other place-based education initiatives for the ninth-grade.
“And the implementation of that grant is throughout this school year, and the mural is really just the start of it,” he said.
The mural is the result of a collaboration with Mele Murals, a project of the Estria Foundation, a Honolulu-based nonprofit.
According to Mele Murals, a core group of ninth-grade students began their workshop series Oct. 21. The process included meditation/mindfulness, a field trip to learn about history and culturally significant sites in Hilo and drawing/painting exercises. A concept for the mural was developed from their collective input.
“While the plans have been in the works, it had all been in the background. It just came together recently,” Trimble said.
Last week, there were paint parties during which students could come and paint part of the mural.
“For me, it’s very emotional because when I first started here at Hilo High as a (vice principal), place-based education was one of the first initiatives and to just to see it go from one teacher in the ninth-grade to something so school-wide involving so many people, is just incredible,” Trimble said. “And to also see the ninth-graders come through, work so hard at something and actually be the leaders in terms of implementing it and go up in front of the entire student body and tell their story, when they’ve only been at the school for a few months is just incredibly special to see and overall just very emotional.”
“Home of the Vikings” will return “somewhere prominent, meaning where you can see it from the road,” Dircks said, referring to Waianuenue Avenue.
“We had various discussions about what to do with ‘Home of the Vikings,’ and the intent was never to not replace it,” Trimble said.
According to Dircks, several buildings are being considered, and the school will touch base with “some of our community entities,” but the new location will ultimately be a school decision.
Email Stephanie Salmons at ssalmons@hawaiitribune-herald.com.