Edward Milne Community School will celebrate school pride and the hard work of the Wolverines this year featuring a special celebration on Monday (June 6) in the school gym.
Ah, but there’s more.
The event will also showcase the school’s recently finished mural, mapping out a sea-to-sky landscape flanked by First Nations’ totem poles and featuring images of salmon, rivers, a dugout canoe and forested hillsides.
Perched on top of a rock just above the score clock is a wolverine, claws extended and snarling – the wolverine serves as the school’s symbol and mascot.
Completed a year ago by Victoria-based artist Steven Milroy, the wall-spanning mural seeks to bring in the “raw elemental beauty” of Sooke and its unique natural surroundings, said EMCS principal Pat Swinburnson.
“It also generates a spirit in our students and lets visiting teams know they’ll have to be at their best on entering the Wolverine’s den,” he said.
The mural was financed through individuals, families and businesses, who committed to fund smaller and larger sections of the 1,500 square-foot design.
Milroy was approached by the school with the idea of creating a mural that captured the Sooke Hills, the Sooke River, the surrounding area and its wildlife. He finished the mural in just over a month, and has done more than 30 murals in various high schools and middle schools throughout Vancouver Island.
“It was a pleasant experience, good people out there,” he said, adding that this mural was more of a challenge than many others, as it was more realistic than his usual works.
“I like to think that my murals get better each time, so I was very pleased with the outcome and its general impact,” Milroy said.
Monday’s pep rally will be led by the EMCS cheerleading squad, and snacks and drinks will be served by the school’s culinary arts department. School staff will also unveil a special plaque as well, thanking the mural’s supporters.
“The wolverine definitely gives our athletes a lift. It’s been the school’s mascot for a very long time, but until now the gym walls were bare,” Swinburnson said. “With the school year just about to end, now’s the right time to formally say thank you.”
The event runs from 4 to 5 p.m.