Two Newport High School art students recently had their artwork featured on a Thompson’s Sanitary Service truck as part of a unique community partnership that brought real-world experience into the classroom.

In March, Thompson’s Sanitary Service approached Lincoln County School District with an innovative idea: give NHS art students the opportunity to create graphics for the sides of their new (to them) rear-load truck. The truck’s design provides a large, uninterrupted canvas unlike their typical side-loader vehicles.

The idea originated from a Thompson’s Sanitary annual planning retreat as a way to partner with the community. Some staff had seen the truck mural idea at a national convention a few years back where Los Angeles waste trucks were muraled by local artists. “We thought, why can’t we do that here?” said Rick Hernandez, Thompson’s Sanitary Collections Supervisor, “so we contacted the school district and our admin team sat down to brainstorm parameters for the project…we wanted it to represent our community.”

LCSD connected Thompson’s with NHS Commercial Art instructor Casey McEneny, who immediately recognized the educational value of the project. “This project is an amazing collaboration giving students the opportunity to work through the business process of creating art for a client,” said McEneny. “They learned how to present their ideas, interpret feedback, and work through their designs to deliver an end-product the client would be happy with.”

Students competed for $500 prizes, with two winners selected to create graphics for each side of the truck. Junior Cruise Beckstead and senior Jasmine Lytwyn were chosen from many outstanding submissions.

McEneny and the students worked with Ken Spencer from Newport Signs to digitize the artwork and create professional decals. Spencer installed the graphics along with the students’ names to recognize their contributions.

“We are just thrilled with this project,” said Thompson’s Collections Manager Victor Purpuree. “Seeing the smiles on their faces when they saw their art installed on our truck was priceless. This truck will be rolling through their hometown for years to come.”

Thank you to Thompson’s Sanitary Service for your partnership!