Students at King Intermediate School in Kane'ohe will return Jan. 9 to find a new mural painted on one wall of their school gym.

Local artist Jeff Pagay started on the mural on Dec. 19 and along with his assistant, Laura Metzger, has been racing to finish the 40-foot by 40-foot mural in the less than three weeks students have been out of school.

Yesterday, the wall inside the school's gym was nearly 90 percent complete.

"I've done murals before, but never anything this big," said Pagay from the third tier of scaffolding set up inside the gym.

The mural incorporates images of ancient Hawai'i with depictions of modern-day sports to communicate the message that the values of society have not changed, said Pagay, 43.

Before undertaking the massive task of painting the mural, Pagay sketched out a design that incorporates the school's "Five R's" — respect, relationships, responsibility, resourcefulness and resilience.

Cynthia Chun, King Intermediate principal, said the wall will be the centerpiece of a program to promote a healthy lifestyle. In addition to the mural, physical education teachers plan to install a climbing wall and a low rope course in the gym as a part of their healthy lifestyle program.

Because the mural is in the gym, it obviously incorporates the athletic aspects of life, Chun said. But "it's not just a mural about athletes, it's more than that," Chun said.

She said the mural will promote teamwork and healthy living. "If you're not healthy, everything else falls apart," Chun said.

The school was working on a limited budget, so Pagay said he set a price that would allow him to at least buy supplies and pay for help.

Pagay said he undertook the project to "motivate the kids with art and remind them of all the positives in life."

"It's about applying the lessons learned in the past to the present," he said. He hopes the mural will "plant seeds" of positiveness in the minds of the students.

"I just wanted the kids to have something to look up to and get motivated," Pagay said.

Pagay attempted to keep with the Hawaiian theme of several other murals on campus. The mural uses depictions of the ancient Hawaiian ahupua'a system to convey the message that life is connected. From the use of a canoe to convey a message of teamwork to the kahili bearers spreading a message of civic duty, Pagay hopes students will see more than a pretty picture.

This is not the first mural Pagay has done for a school. He has contributed seven works of art to Moanalua Middle School over the past 20 years. As a student, he painted a mural at Moanalua High School that is still around, he said.

Painting this mural has posed several challenges Pagay has never before experienced. For instance, this is the first time Pagay has needed to scale scaffolding to paint a mural.

"There's a little bit of a physical challenge. I have to climb down and walk back to get perspective," Pagay said.

It is also the first time doing a project of this scale for Metzger, a local faux finish painter. She said the scaffolding poses other challenges.

"It's stable but it's wobbly. You have to learn to paint while moving around," she said.

Before the pair began painting, they had to bring in two projectors to transfer the sketch onto the wall. Pagay then spent days painting in black outlines and color in sections.

Pagay was busy yesterday adding texture to mountains and rocks in his painting and said he is optimistic the mural will be complete by the time students return.

With less than a week before school is back in session, Pagay and Metzger are racing to put the final touches on a mural they hope will become as timeless as the message it is trying to convey.

Reach Loren Moreno at lmoreno@honoluluadvertiser.com.