Annabeth Goehring froze as she rounded the corner of a hallway at Weddle Elementary.
The fourth grade student stared in shock at a wall covered in painted animals, symbols and words before leaping into Brock Bergstedt’s arms.
“You are amazing,” she told Bergstedt, who teaches kindergarten.
On Wednesday morning, the school unveiled a mural that Bergstedt and his mother Lillian have been painting for months in the hallway. The black and white design incorporates over 80 different motifs, many suggested by Weddle students and educators.
The school is adjacent to wetlands, and many pieces of the mural pay tribute to the animals often seen around — and sometimes inside — the school.
Lizards, newts and snakes sometimes venture into Weddle’s hallways.
“Catching frogs in your classroom is a regular thing,” Bergstedt said.
Also featured on the mural: a soccer ball, a friendly worm named Herman, a rainbow parachute from gym class, the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde logo, a school lunch tray and a tribute to the Special Olympics. The wall also has a greeting in each of the school’s most commonly spoken languages: English, Spanish, Swahili, Marshallese and Chuukese.
The work was made possible thanks to a $1,000 grant from the Assistance League of Salem-Keizer.
Several school workers applied for the grant, and Bergstedt was chosen to be the artist. He’s been teaching at the school for 12 years.
“The more you look at it, you just keep seeing more things,” said Jane Lamb, an Assistance League volunteer who serves on the grant committee. She joined school leaders and students Wednesday morning marveling at the completed work.
Some teachers turned mural suggestions into a classroom activity. Bergstedt also incorporated school activities as he was painting. When a mother duck showed up outside with ducklings, it “shut down recess,” he said.
He went inside to paint a quick duck on the wall to commemorate the event.
Bergstedt painted before school at 5:30 a.m. and came in on weekends with his mother. They worked in segments, keeping the wall covered by a curtain so nobody could see the full mural.
“The anticipation has been building,” he said.
One painting depicts the “silent wolf,” a hand gesture used at Weddle to let students know to be quiet. Bergstedt said he couldn’t get the shape quite right, but a student drew the hand perfectly. He copied the student‘s design onto the wall.
The hallway buzzed Wednesday morning as students got their first look at the mural.
“Where’s my idea?” several asked as they walked by. Many pointed to favorite animals or designs.
“This makes me so happy to see kids so excited about it,” principal Stacey Lund said.
One student stopped to ask Bergstedt how long the mural would be up.
“I hope it stays forever,” he said.
Contact reporter Rachel Alexander: [email protected] or 503-575-1241.
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Rachel Alexander is Salem Reporter’s managing editor. She joined Salem Reporter when it was founded in 2018 and covers city news, education, nonprofits and a little bit of everything else. She’s been a journalist in Oregon and Washington for a decade. Outside of work, she’s a skater and board member with Salem’s Cherry City Roller Derby and can often be found with her nose buried in a book.
