Keizlyn Kith Guanco has only lived in Page a year but during that time she’s left a mark that will remain for years to come.

    Keizlyn, who was a sophomore at Page High School last year, is an artist with a special talent for creating large, colorful murals. Over the summer break she was commissioned by Page Unified School District’s food service provider, Chartwells, to paint vibrant, cheerful murals on the cafeteria walls at Lake View Primary and Desert View Intermediate. Keizlyn also created the logo for this year’s Balloon Regatta. She was recognized at a recent Page City Council meeting as the artist whose work was chosen to represent this year’s Regatta. Normally, that recognition would occur during a September council meeting, but the honor was moved forward

    Ian Klay, director of dining services for Chartwells, had the idea to hire Keizlyn for the job.

    “When I found out that Keiz won the Balloon Regatta art contest and saw her work I thought she might be a good fit for this art project,” said Klay.

    On the walls of Desert View’s lunchroom, Keizlyn has painted playful monsters, flexing their muscles, meditating and just being happy. In Lake View’s lunchroom, Keizlyn painted various vegetables belonging to specific color palettes, such as yellow bananas and lemons, green avocados and broccoli, and orange carrots and oranges. She also painted the Lake View Eagle mascot next to the words, “Welcome to Eagle’s Café.”

     Prior to painting the murals, Klay received permission and input from the school principals and George Mowbray, administrative assistant for PUSD’s Maintenance and Facilities.

    “I gave her some guidelines about what we wanted and then let her do her thing, said Klay. “I love how it turned out.”

    Keizlyn has been creating art since she was in kindergarten. “It’s what I do when I’m feeling creative and it’s what I do when I’m bored. I would sometimes get in trouble at school for doodling and drawing in my notebooks while the teacher was talking. I’d still be listening, but I’d also be drawing something in my sketchbook.”

   After she graduates from high school, Keizlyn hopes to continue her art education at art school.

    Keizlyn is the daughter of Sharmin Guanco, a J1 teacher from the Philippines who teaches ninth grade English at Page High School. Keizlyn’s father, Jehan, works in the Lake View Cafeteria, and her little brother Klarenz was in eighth grade. Sharmin has taught for PUSD for five years and was able to get a year-long visa for her husband and daughter to visit. Keizlyn and Jehan will return to the Philippines in mid-July.

    Keizlyn says she has really enjoyed her time in Page and will remember her time here fondly.

    “Page is a lot different that the Phillipines, but I love it here,” said Keizlyn. “I think my one year here in Page was fabulous! I love the scenery.  It’s been easy to make friends, because people are so kind and helpful. They always included me as part of the team.”

    She says she’ll stay in touch with her new friends via Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat.

    Keizlyn tried to take advantage of her single year in Page. She visited Antelope Canyon three times, hiked around the Toadstools and spent lots of time at Lone Rock and Swim Beach.

    Keizlyn’s murals are just the first phase of a larger project to make PUSD’s lunchrooms more inviting, pleasing spaces for the students to be. It started about 18 months ago when Coconino County’s Smart Schools did a walk-through of PUSD’s cafeterias. The officials scored the cafeterias a Zero in the category of Inviting Environment.

    “The walls were just painted plain white, and they were pretty boring,” said Klay. “That’s too bad because a lunchroom should be a fun place to hang out with your friends at lunch.”

    Chartwells contract was set to expire a short time after the walk-through. When the company submitted its new proposal, it included a rider to turn the lunchrooms into an inviting environment.

    In addition to having fun, colorful murals painted on the walls, Chartwells has also ordered colorful, playful banners and posters. One of the posters shows a pickle relaxing and it says, “I’m kind of a big dill.” Another shows a beet wearing sunglasses. It says, “Drop the beet.”

    When Lake View students return to school in August the students will get to dip their hands in paint and press their hand prints on the cafeteria walls.

    Page Middle School and Page High School will also receive artsy upgrades in their cafeterias in the coming months. Klay hopes to find the next muralist from among PUSD’s art students.