PLANTERSVILLE — Not only are Dallas County High School students taking their knowledge of science outdoors, but also their love of art.

As a way to complement their new outdoor classroom — a pond funded by a grant from the city of Valley Grande — students painted a mural in the school courtyard, where the pond is housed.

Jo Taylor, art teacher for Dallas County High School, said her senior art students took heavy pride in painting the mural.

“This is a cool way to leave our mark on the school before we leave,” said Elijah Lewis, a student in Taylor’s Art II class. “We wanted to incorporate different activities we have at school [in the mural].”

Taylor said before painting the mural, she had to find a way to get enough supplies. After expressing her need to Robert Fails, an employee at Sherwin Williams, Taylor said more than $150 in paint was donated for the mural.

“I told him what we were doing, that this was an outdoor classroom and that we already had a pond,” Taylor said. “The wall mural is meant to visually show what the students learn in the classroom.”

With painted images of animals, music notes, and books, the mural depicts several subject areas students engage in while at Dallas County High. Taylor said she hopes the mural will eventually expand and take up the whole wall.

“Art and science are really not that different from one another and with this outdoor classroom, students will see that,” she said. “To me, you can’t teach one subject alone, because they all intertwine with each other — and that’s part of the goal of the outdoor classroom.”