Wyoming — At Wyoming Intermediate School, three wolves walk across a 27-by-8-feet wall, symbolizing a challenge set for fifth- and sixth-graders to pursue their goals.
Thanh Troung and Oliver Van Fleet, both 2026 Wyoming High School graduates, recently completed the depiction — a mural near the school’s back entrance. The trio of wolves, the district’s mascot, are shown in nature along a journey that could go anywhere — depending on the path they choose.
Commissioned by WIS, Troung and Van Fleet, who were advanced art students at Wyoming High School, took a school-provided AI-generated design and customized it to fit their vision. They used a projector to cast the image onto the wall, meticulously gridding and sketching, before painting it in water-based acrylics. They spent about 60 hours completing the mural, from late May to late August.
The artists both attended WIS, and said it’s extra special to create the mural for the school where they each loved art class.
“I really like the idea that once I was a student here aspiring to be an artist and now I am back and making art on the walls of the school,” said Van Fleet, a Grand Rapids Community College student who is pursuing a degree in art. “I like how I stuck with my dream.”
“It is cool that we mashed up our ideas and collaborated,” said Troung, who is also attending GRCC and pursuing a degree in zoology.
Van Fleet said his brother will attend WIS in a few years.
“In a few years he will be able to say, ‘Wow, my brother drew that,” he said.
A School-wide Challenge
The mural is the culmination of the school’s new Wolf Trail Challenge, a Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports program that sets common expectations around behavior school-wide. The challenge is the brainchild of fifth-grade teacher Katey DeWaard and other WIS staff members.
‘I really like the idea that once I was a student here aspiring to be an artist and now I am back and making art on the walls of the school.’
— Wyoming High School graduate Oliver Van Fleet
“We felt like the kids really needed a student-facing program that would build pride and a sense of belonging, that is inspiring and motivating and appropriate for 10- to 12-year olds,” DeWaard said. “The goal in my mind was to have it infused throughout the building.”
For the program, students are creating self-reflection and action plans for the year and will work to earn four different field-trip style “challenges,” such as going to a local park and exploring trails. Goals involve meeting attendance, academic and behavioral expectations.
“I really want to figure out how to motivate these kids to succeed,” said DeWaard. “It felt like a multi-faceted approach — it can’t just be incentives; it also has to be aspirational.”
The mural is the visual culmination of Wolf Trail challenge art and information now displayed around the school.
Fifth-grader Abby Henriquez said she finds the mural motivating.
“It inspires me to do my best and never give up,” she said.
Dewaard said she hopes to commission Troung and VanFleet to paint another mural, made from the artists’ original design, depicting the wolves further along on their journey.
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