Special education students at La Mesa Junior High had the opportunity to get creative Tuesday, but more importantly, the students made some new friends.

The project was organized by the Special Children's Art Foundation, a local nonprofit founded by Mark and Priscilla Kolodiejczyk that brings children with special needs together with mainstream youth to gain a better understanding of each other while participating in mural art projects.

"We've invited the special education classes to be the principle painters, along with some mainstream students," Priscilla Kolodiejczyk said. "The fact that the mainstream kids come to work with them - that's pretty cool for them."

Mainstream students were selected from the school's art classes and peer tutors, who volunteer to work with special needs students on a regular basis, were also invited to participate. Courtney Sabile, an eighth-grader taking advanced photography, assisted Kayla Davidson with her painting.

"It was fun. She had a good time. She was responding by smiling at me," Courtney said. "I like helping out the community and I love art."

The 8-by-31-foot mural, titled "Community in Action," will eventually grace the walls of the Santa Clarita Community Center. The pictures depict different activities offered at the center, including tae kwon do, basketball, ballet folklorico and boxing.

Eighth-grader Derek Lara, a peer tutor, helped wheelchair-bound Trent DiMauro paint an image of a boy in a karate outfit.

"It's going great. He holds the brush and I tell him to relax his arm, then I just help him hold it and he just paints it himself," Derek said. "And he's really good at it."

Special education students at Sierra Vista Junior High and Bridgeport Elementary will also get the opportunity to work on the mural with mainstream kids at their schools. Assistant Principal Anna Dwork was instrumental in arranging the activity at La Mesa.

"It's been great. We've had just about every special education class come out, and the general education kids are helping them. It's just been a great experience," Dwork said.

The special education students get a sense of accomplishment, while the general education students learn acceptance, tolerance and patience, Dwork said. But most of all, she said, the students make friends.

"They get to know each other, then later when they see each other, the general education kids might stop to tell a joke or give a high-five," Dwork said. "Isn't that every kid's goal, to make friends and be part of a group?"

scotal@the-signal.com