Given into trouble for doodling in Grade 5, it’s unlikely Atheana Picha envisaged that, seven years later, she would be back at Kingswood elementary being celebrated for doing exactly what she was chastised for.
And not even in the labyrinth that is Atheana’s creative mind could she have anticipated being asked to honour the school by “doodling” its new logo, complete with an Aboriginal, Coast Salish theme.
That, however, is exactly what happened — partly by chance, partly by design — for the now Grade 12 McNair secondary student, who was tasked by the school to design an eagle emblem (replacing Kingswood’s cougar), to adorn the gym wall and its sports and spirit wear.
Moments after being honoured as guest of the school at its unveiling of the new logo on Friday, Atheana, who is of Coast Salish descent, reflected on those early doodling days, as she stared up at her creation on the wall.
“It really is a great feeling to see it up there; it’s awesome,” said emerging Aboriginal artist Atheana, who, after graduating from high school, plans to attend Langara College for two years, before deciding on art programs at UBC or Emily Carr.
“In Grade 7, you do a little bit about the legacy thing; there is a $200 budget and you buy some new chairs for the school or something.
“But chairs get broken and such, whereas, something like this; it’s right up there and won’t break. Hopefully it will last for a long time.”
Kingswood principal Ron Manning explained how, last spring, the school decided to change its cougar mascot/logo to something that was more relevant to the region and with an Aboriginal theme to match the new curriculum.
After students and staff voted for the eagle, Manning approached the Richmond School District for help in finding a local, Aboriginal artist.
“They knew of Atheana and, would you believe it, she was a former Kingswood student; it was a perfect match,” he told the Richmond News.
Atheana, who even in Grade 5 recognized there needed to be a change from the cougar logo, told students during a question and answer session on Friday that she used lots of “‘S’ shapes and ‘U’ shapes to flow more with the eagle design; I thought that would look cool.”
Asked by one student about when she started to design the new logo, her answer came as a surprise to the kids and, most likely, much to the chagrin of some of the Kingswood teachers.
“I did a little of it during a physics test, on the back of the formula sheet I think,” said Atheana, to laughter around the gym hall, adding that her mind may have wandered during the exam.
“Before the test, I had some doodles and I just kept playing with shapes and I think it looks pretty sick.”
In case you were wondering, she got 87 per cent in the test.
