Cody Summers, a 2011 Oakville Senior High School graduate, spent the last semester of his senior year designing and creating a lasting impact on his high school and future classes of Oakville science students.

Summers was commissioned by his former science teacher, Jean Pfeifer, to expand upon a mural that stretches the length of the school’s science hallway and takes passing students on a journey through the evolution of life, according to a district news release.

He was given a specific time period to complete, in which he depicted the evolution of the shark, tracing the animal’s roots back to its beginnings as an amoeba. After spending his time after school to design, draw and paint his section of the evolutionary mural, Summers was proud of what he accomplished during a semester’s worth of volunteer work.

“My favorite part of the project was bringing these guys to life,” Summers stated in the release, in reference to the sea creatures in his mural. “I liked drawing out the mural and adding color.”

Throughout the past decade, several Oakville students have contributed to the depiction of evolution displayed on the wall of the school’s science wing. And according to Summers, students will continue to leave their own impact on the school in the years to come.

“The mural will continue through the rest of history and back into space where it started,” he stated in the release.

Summers plans to attend St. Louis Community College–Meramec this fall, where he will pursue an associate’s degree in horticulture.

The 2011 Oakville graduate is the son of John and Cathy Summers.