Emma Paredes and her fellow students at East Whittier City School District’s Laurel Elementary School love to draw.

Their drawings and ideas inspired a public mural at the school in collaboration with Whittier artist Dennis McGonagle.

This mural, titled “Mystic Jungle,” is a first-of-its-kind piece at Laurel Elementary. It is visible on an exterior wall at the corner of Laurel Avenue and Lambert Road.

The school’s Parent Teacher Association commissioned the project with McGonagle because his mural work is well known around Whittier — most notably, the mural at the Whittier Museum.

In fall 2023, Laurel students were asked to generate ideas for the mural and to help paint it. PTA leaders hoped students would gain unique access to a professional artist, grow their own artistic voices and feel a lasting sense of pride for their contribution.

Every student was invited to participate in the mural, from kindergarten to fifth grade, said Emily Eiden, a Laurel parent and PTA representative. Laurel serves approximately 465 students.

More than 280 ideas from students and teachers were submitted for the mural, which McGonagle went through for inspiration and designed a mural incorporating ideas and themes from them.

Paredes’ idea heavily influenced the design with her drawing of a lion, purple flowers, and a daughter and father walking to school. She was one of over 120 students who joined Laurel’s after school mural club to help paint the mural alongside McGonagle and other adult volunteers.

“My favorite part about painting was the flowers,” said Paredes, who wants to become an artist when she grows up.

During 14 mural club sessions, McGonagle led groups of students to paint the mural with colorful flowers, trees, books, homes, clouds, and — of course — a lion.

“The PTA created a schedule that had me painting with groups of fifteen children at a time,” McGonagle said at a mural dedication ceremony at the school on Feb. 2. “I must admit it was sometimes a challenge to get them all painting on the wall at the same time.”

He shared that he selected the wall for the mural because it can be seen by cars passing by and people walking by the school. McGonagle said the lion was watching over the school from just inside the fence and highlighted a mysterious portal, which was not part of the original mural plan but spontaneously evolved from the imagination of the student painters.

“The mural becomes a giant mirror reflecting the hopes and dreams of the Laurel School community,” he added. “It is a work of art the school can be proud of for years to come because it came straight from the hearts and imaginations of the Laurel students.”

At the mural dedication ceremony, district and school staff were present, as well as students, parents, community members, and Whittier Councilmember Cathy Warner.

“It really is one of those things that reinforces what we try to do as a district in order to empower our students to share their thoughts and their inspiration and their ideas,” Superintendent Marc Patterson said during the ceremony. “This really is an expression of not just one thing that came together but that is the collective spirit of our Laurel students, our Laurel PTA and just the community here at Laurel that makes it full of that Lion pride.”

Ivan Sulic, field deputy for Los Angeles County Board Supervisor Janice Hahn, presented a proclamation to McGonagle and the school for their work on the mural. He also shared that Hahn committed $7,000 toward the “muralization” of another wall at the school.

The “Mystic Jungle” mural was paid for using funds raised from Laurel families during a spring Kindness Fundraiser.

Working with a company called Raise Craze, students completed acts of kindness at school, home and in the greater community to raise money for Laurel and the mural.

“For a lot of (students), school is a safe place and for them to feel like this is their legacy, I think that was a big motivator behind the idea of this mural,” said Emma Sakuda, a first-grade teacher at Laurel who was part of the mural club.

The best part about working on this mural was being able to inspire kids to become artists, said McGonagle. One of those students was Paredes, “I just told her, do art for the rest of your life, she has so much talent and imagination,” he said.

“What you see here is the distillation of their ideas,” McGonagle said. “It was an honor and a pleasure working with nearly 120 students on the mural.”