The Jurassic Period has ended at Thomson Elementary School.
After being the school's mascot for years, the dinosaurs painted on the walls of the school have been replaced with eagles.
"The dinosaur does not represent what Thomson Elementary School is all about," Principal Anita Cummings told school board members during a March meeting. "We are no where near extinction because we still have lots of places to go... We are going to soar to new heights and be the home of the eagles -- flying high, flying strong and mighty."
Art teacher Ronnie Baggett was busy painting the eagle in the front entrance of the school last week.
"I love to paint, so this is right up my alley," she said.
Mrs. Baggett drew the large eagle free-hand and then painted it. An American flag flies in the background of the mural, which turned out to be larger than when it was started.
"I had to make sure it had the right number of stripes on it, because the children will certainly notice if it's wrong, so it ended up being bigger so all the stripes would fit," she said.
The dinosaur footprints farther down the hall that once marked the children's reading progress are being replaced by a large tree with an eagle's nest. Every time a child completes a step in reading, their name will be placed on an egg in the nest.
"It's not a matter of if we'll soar, but how high," Mrs. Cummings said in a letter sent out to teachers last week.
