Last Updated: Saturday, May 31, 2008 9:29 PM CDT
NCSS Warriors Mural unveiled
By Michael Skubal, DAILY NEWS STAFF
The Northwoods Charter Secondary School is known for innovative programs and projects. From shoveling the neighbor’s walks to portraying figures from Rhinelander’s history, NCSS students are making their mark on the community.
The NCSS Warriors Mural was unveiled Thursday. According to the Warriors Mural brochure, this was a “culminating project led by students in Mr. Losch’s advisory, but with input and brushwork from students in every advisory.”
The artist who acted as advisor for the project was Mrs. Jamie Jones, a graduate of UW-Milwaukee with a degree in art education. She moved to Rhinelander in 2004 with her husband and two young sons. She is a certified art teacher. Her artistic interests range from painting to sculpture and she is currently a substitute teacher for the school district.
Presidential “Warriors” portrayed in the mural include George Herbert Walker Bush, Jimmy Carter, Theodore Roosevelt and Dwight Eisenhower. Other “Warriors” portrayed include the Marines who captured Iwo Jima, the Japanese Samurai, warriors who followed a code of loyalty, self-discipline, respect and ethical behavior and Sitting Bull, who led the Sioux resistance to the forced relocation of his people.
James Blake Miller, the “Marlboro Marine” who became a symbol of the working class serving their country, is on the mural as is Winston Churchill, Pat Tillman and Joan of Arc, seen as a heroine to the French though she died at 20.
Tara Mullen, an 8th grade student at NCSS, took part in the project, “Each of us had to pick a warrior. We had to give a strong argument of why they should be there. I picked Harriet Tubman because she was a slave all her life. When her owner died, she ran away and joined the underground railroad.
She came back 19 times and saved over 300 people. I think that is amazing. She was a warrior. She kept a gun with her and used it to make sure nobody gave up and went back.”
Two local heroes have prominent places on the mural. Steve Martin was a member of the Rhinelander Police Department when he reenlisted in the Army Reserve after 9/11. Martin was assigned to the 330th Military police detachment and served in Iraq, where he was killed in the line of duty.
James Pelletier helped liberate Europe from the Axis Powers during World War II. He turned 23 as a prisoner of war after being captured in Luxemburg in December of 1944. In the student voting to decide who went on the mural, Sgt. Martin and Pelletier received the greatest number of votes. The mural is on display in the NCSS cafeteria.
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The Northwoods Charter Secondary School’s Warrior Mural was unveiled last week. Sgt. Steven G. Martin (below, left) was a member of the Rhinelander Police Department when he reenlisted in the Army Reserves after 9/11. He was a hero, one of many who stepped up individually to serve after the War on Terrorism began. James Pelletier (right) takes his place on the mural as a local hero who served in World War II. Pelletier has spent time with NCSS students educating them about issues of war, conflict and history.
Michael Skubal/Daily News
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