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worked out in the end and just looking at it makes me feel good about myself.” The finished piece is also part of a statewide virtual YES! contest. Completed activities and a 10-minute video are submitted to judges and results will be shared at the end of the month. The top two teams in the state will receive a trip to the Bell Museum for awards recognition. YES! has been a school sponsored program at Westbrook Walnut Grove for 12 years and is led by advisor and WWG teacher Patrick Merrick. As a statewide program, YES! encourages students to be change agents as they create solutions and sustainable practices for environmental challenges in their communities. As a first year member of YES!, Vang hopes to make something similar next year. “I was really intrigued with this project. I learned a lot of information on marine wildlife,” said Vang. “YES! really impacted me to be aware and be ready to make some changes.”
As part of the Youth Eco Solutions (YES!) program, Gao Vang decided to continue the vision of former member Payeng Vue by creating a marine animal mural.
“I decided to take over the project because I was intrigued to be reusing recycling,” said Vang, of rural Walnut Grove. “It is a delicate balance between humans and marine wildlife.”
Vang began the project in late December. Using a board from shop class, the design was drawn on a 24-inch-by-48-inch board and painted over. Vang worked on the project after school for an hour on most days. “I had other members that helped me out with painting, screwing and making the epoxy,” said Vang.
With assistance from Alexis Vang, Sydney Swenson, Annika Kopperud, Sweety Lee and Madison Xiong, the Westbrook Walnut Grove sophomore completed the mural in early March. The completed mural is made from 1,000 bottle caps and 1,000 pop tabs that were collected throughout the school year.
The bottle caps are attached to the board by screws.
“A minor struggle was that we didn’t have enough blue bottle caps, so my coach suggested using pop tabs for the whale,” said Vang.
“For the pop tabs, we placed down a layer of epoxy so they could stay intact but also showed a nice shiny
