La Salle-Peru High School art students paint ‘Tree of Life’ mural for Illinois Valley dispatch center

Students from La Salle-Peru High School Art Club painted a “Tree of Life” mural on the wall of the Illinois Valley Regional Dispatch Center–ValCom on Monday.

“The Tree of Life will serve as a reminder of the important work that goes on within the walls of our 911 center each day,” ValCom said on its Facebook page. “Our telecommunicators play a vital role in the chain of survival by providing life-saving instructions over the phone until help arrives.”

L-P art teacher Julie Jenkins said leaves will be added to the tree with the names of lives that have been saved in the community, either by CPR or by delivering a baby while on the phone with dispatch.

“I’m a big believer in building our community through the arts,” she said. “And having those lives saved and a place for those names and memorializing those events.”

Students Dexter Nunez, a senior; Jasmine Arce, a junior; Tiff Grygiel, a sophomore; and Danica Scoma, a senior; spent about 2 1/2 hours painting the tree, Jenkins said.

Jenkins said Julie Dean, from ValCom, reached out to her after seeing similar murals painted at other centers and Jenkins agreed it would be a spectacular idea.

“We’ve done a lot of murals over the years and it’s always something really exciting for the students,” she said. “To be able to participate in something and have an impact on the community through their art.”