Early in the school year, Wright City Middle School was struck by a random act of crime and destruction. A teacher and students turned part of the damage into inspiration for a massive work of art.Officials said an adult male broke into the school late at night Saturday, Aug. 11. Video cameras tracked his progress as he took a tour of the facility, destroying property, causing a mess and leaving anti-police messages written on the walls, said Superintendant Dr. David Buck.Buck said the vandal has no relation to the school district. He said the man entered the middle school by ripping an outdoor light fixture from the ground, then throwing it through a window.The vandal came into the school library, and from there got into the front office, gym, and several classrooms. Among the damaged equipment was a copy machine worth thousands of dollars, Buck said.In the school’s art room, the vandal opened brand new bottles of paint and unleashed them upon the walls. Instead of removing all of the defacement, school officials decided to turn it into something positive.Art teacher Jennifer Zgiet-Burtelow began a wall-sized mural of flowers and crashing waves, covering or blending with the chaotic work of a vandal to make it into something beautiful.“I said, I can’t let these kids come in and see . . . the destruction and vandalism. They won’t be able to learn,” Zgiet-Burtelow said.Instead, she made the beginnings of the wall mural into an art project for her students, who will eventually finish the work of transforming stray paint smears into a lasting positive image.In the two weeks since the vandalism, the students’ mural paintings have spilled beyond the damaged area and across the classroom walls. Images of stars, landscapes and well-known cartoon characters cover almost every vertical surface within reach. The project will likely continue throughout the year, and maybe into future years.“It’s become a teachable moment, a lesson in creativity. It just led to bigger and bigger things happening in the room,” Zgiet-Burtelow said. “The imaginations that are manifesting from this experience are a teacher’s dream.”As for the vandal himself, Wright City Police Chief Matt Eskew said officers are investigating the case and hope to have it resolved in the near future.

Art teacher Jennifer Zgiet-Burtelow and her students at Wright City Middle School turned an act of vandalism into a work of art after paint was scattered over the walls of the art room in August. The wall mural incorporating the splattered paint will continue to expand as part of the students’ art lessons.

Record photo/Adam Rollins