When the school counselor at Big Elm Elementary approached art teacher Carolyn Light in the fall of 2004 and asked if she'd paint two murals of the Six Pillars, she replied, "Our pillars are our children."

So the children painted the murals -- and loved it.

"The project has taught me about the Pillars, the character traits," fifth-grader Lauren McMillan told the Clarksburg Exponent. "We drew the kids holding the Pillars, and we painted the town of Shinnston, and the painting was the part I liked best."

Fourth-grader McKenzie Wright said the mural helped her learn about responsibility and cooperation.

"We have 740 students here and they've had to think hard as to what each pillar represents and means," Ms. Light said. "It's a very positive project and helps the children identify with their community."

One mural represents daytime and the other night. The former shows six children -- read Pillars -- holding up a pediment, the long, low triangle atop pillars in a Greek temple. "The pediment represents society and the project involves the whole school, as the children have done the drawing and painting under my direction," Ms. Light said. "Children have to show character while in school, which takes place in the daytime, so the children have drawn and painted the school and a playground."

The nighttime mural shows an aerial view of Shinnston. It includes the power plant and the smoke rising from it into swirls, Ms. Light said. "The children aren't in school in the nighttime, so the scene depicts the premise that when they're out in the community, they also have to uphold the Pillars of Character."