Fountain Hills Unified School District (FHUSD) is moving things around with its consolidation plan this summer. Schools will be aligned K-5, 6-8 and 9-12, but operating on two campuses.

Kindergarten through fifth grade will operate out of the former Fountain Hills Middle School Campus, and six through eighth grade will join the remaining grades on the high school campus, operating out of its own buildings.

To prepare for these changes, the buildings that will house Fountain Hills Middle School have been receiving some much-needed attention. Todd Harris, President of the Four Peaks Rotary Club, set up a painting project on April 29, and over 100 community volunteers came out to lend a hand.

The volunteers painted over all the scratches and knicks on the walls and covered several rooms in white paint. Most people were happy to help, but at least one volunteer wanted to do more than paint blank white rooms. Heather Atkins asked how she could help more, and then she was roped into painting colorful sections all by herself.

“I get to do some fun things. There’s obviously always painting doors white type of thing, but I get to do something fun and different every week, which is why I love my job,” Atkins said. “I get to be creative and give people ideas that they didn’t know they wanted.”

Atkins is a professional painter and owns her own company, Heather’s Painting and Designs. She’s usually booked six months out, but she had planned to take two weeks off in May and more time off in July for vacations and to work on her own home.

“It was the perfect timing that I feel like it was meant to be,” Atkins said. “I had the timing already open, and it was just waiting there.”

Atkins said the timing was the biggest piece of the puzzle, and everything fell into place. She had some ideas in mind when she met with FHUSD Superintendent Dr. Cain Jagodzinski, and they ended up picking a stripe design for the walls.

Atkins called the first section of the wall “a beast,” and said she laser leveled 326 lines of tape over four sections on the wall. Atkins is detail oriented and meticulous about her job, and she believes in the old proverb, “measure twice and cut once.”

“I think it’s the attention to detail. What people like are the super straight lines and no cutting any corners,” Atkins said. “I think that’s the key, not the bow and blow mentality. I also do a lot of decorating. Staging, all kinds of color choice picking, things like that, so when I look at a paint job, I’m not looking at it like just paint on the wall, I’m looking at all the different details that also go into making it a beautiful space.”

Atkins used to work hand-in-hand with her husband who works in commercial construction until they moved to Fountain Hills about five years ago. Since then, she started her own company and became a self-described “one-man show.”

She’s done Junior Achievement and room mom activities, but Atkins is not a member of the PTO or any other school parent groups. Atkins spends a lot of her free time assisting women’s ministry groups at church, but when she saw the school email asking for volunteer support, she threw her hat into the ring since it was right up her alley.

Atkins believes whatever she can do to spruce up the middle school hallways, the kids deserve. Her two oldest kids will be in high school this year, but her youngest will be able to enjoy her efforts in the halls next year.

Atkins normally works on residential projects and believes a change in color can positively change the way the owners feel when they’re inside. She hopes the color and designs have a similar effect on students in the middle school, and she’s happy to have helped.

“I’m excited that I could make this a fun place,” Atkins said. “When you see the adults walk in, after they have seen just the white walls, and they see what a little bit of paint can do, it really can change your mood, because they walk in and its instantly ‘oh I love it,’ and they’re happy.”

Harris and the Four Peaks Rotary Club has been working on smaller projects in FHUSD buildings in the background since their first painting project, and they plan to do another painting project this summer. If you have any questions about the Rotary Club, you can reach Harris at toddh1716@gmail.com.

Atkins also painted the school walls blue and posted before and after pictures of her work on Instagram. You can see the finished product by searching heathers.painting.and.designs on Instagram. Atkins also does shiplap and wainscoting, cabinet refinishing and tile backsplash, and you can inquire about her services by emailing heatheratkins27@yahoo.com.