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Berwyn Heights Elementary School students will once again have a chance to leave their mark on the school.

The school received a $500 grant from the National PTA, which the BHES PTA will match, to fund the school's second student-created mural. The first mural, featuring a garden scene, was finished in 2007. Each student in the school placed at least one stone on the mosaic, and the general design is a combination of drawings from all the grade levels.

PTA events coordinator Lisa Nichols said she thinks the new project will elicit the same enthusiasm as the original.

"They enjoyed it so much," she said. "The whole school —every person and every student — was working on it. They wanted us all to come see it and show it off."

The school received the Mary Lou Anderson Reflections Arts Enhancement Grant, which was attained by teachers Margie Strohecker and Liza Linder, for the new mural.

Schools receiving the grant were required to commit to a PTA match of the grant amount upon applying.

In total, three Mary Lou Anderson grants were awarded in 2008, two for $100 and one for $500.

The National PTA targets schools with students from low-income families and projects that reach a broad range of students for the grant, both of which apply to Berwyn Heights.

Assistant principal Sharon Cook said the theme of the new mural will be the Chesapeake Bay.

"What you're seeing is a representative of who we are," she said. "We're a very community-based school, and everyone who has a child here is a part of our community.

All of us had an opportunity to put some part of ourselves in it."

Cook expects the school to start designing the mural in the spring, so the school can form a committee in charge of the piece, decide where to put it and acquire the needed materials.

She said endeavors like the mural help students gain an appreciation for projects that come together over time.

"It's a work in progress," she said. "You can see it from the very beginning to the end. This is something we work on, and they can see the actual construction from the time it's on a piece of paper until the time the panels are done."

Nichols said she is excited her two children, sixth-grader Daniel and second-grader Sarah, will get to leave a lasting impression on the school.

"It develops their creativity and imagination and artistic creativity," she said. "I'm glad my kids will have some permanent artwork."

Berwyn Heights Mayor Cheye Calvo said the town is proud of the efforts of the school and commended Principal Karen Singer for focusing on the arts.

"It really speaks to the innovative things that she and her staff are doing to connect arts and music to tangible projects," he said. "The idea of involving the students in this project where every child in the school has a part of the mosaic is fantastic."

Calvo also said the project helps students to use their creativity and "think outside the box."

"It is something that has lasting value for the kids that participated," he said.

E-mail Jonah Schuman at jschuman@gazette.net.