In a letter to the Department of Public Lands, teacher Rebekah Yost said they can paint, landscape, and create a mural on the lighthouse, which is near Whispering Palms.
The school wants to make the lighthouse more beautiful, she said.
“It is a great historical site on the island and so it’s really sad that it’s gone to such disrepair. I think it could be a beautiful place to display all the culture that we have here,” Yost said.
Her students, she added, love the lighthouse and are excited at the prospect of turning it into something that is important to the community.
“It is a middle school project, but what we like to do is really to involve the greater community of Saipan,” she said.
Sixth- to eighth-grade students are helping her in planning different activities for the lighthouse.
The students have been there several times already this year, cleaning and picking up garbage.
Yost said they are planning to paint a mural to prevent graffiti.
“We would do a mural. For that part we would like to bring in the community and maybe students throughout all of Saipan. They can submit design ideas and we can agree on a specific design and have different schools participate and help actually paint it on there,” she said.
If the school gets permission this month from DPL, Yost said February might be committed to landscaping and painting the lighthouse white.
The designs for the mural will follow afterward, she added.
“I’m hoping that it will instill in them a sense of pride that we can spark the community at large to participate and they will be able to take it with them into their lives further and start other projects in the community where they live,” Yost said
