It took more than 3,500 student hours to put together a colorful ceramic tile mural that was unveiled Thursday at Vintage High.

The mural, which takes the form of a word search, is a collage of creatively designed letters. Embedded in the letters are messages promoting a healthy, drug- and alcohol-free lifestyle.

Carolyn Sargent, 15, created three of the 330 tiles needed for the 8-by-10 foot mural.

“It feels great,” Sargent said as she looked at the finished product. “You can’t put it into words, you feel special inside.”

The mural is now a part of the campus, and marks the first time a ceramic art piece is displayed there.

Mel Simpson, a ceramic teacher at Vintage High, developed the idea for the “word search” mural and gave his students simple instructions. All students had to do was choose a letter to create, the design and color were at the creative will of the student.

The project began last May, and was just recently completed. 350 students from all grades helped to create tiles.

As Simpson looked onto the piece at the unveiling, he smiled with pride.

“It’s wonderful,” he said. “Usually kids do projects and it disappears with them, (the mural) is here to be enjoyed.”

The project was part of a special grant from the federal department of education. The Students Take Alcohol to Task (STAT) grant, provides funds for county schools to implement and enhance anti-drug and alcohol programs on their sites.

The word search format engages students and makes finding the healthy messages like a discovery, said Jeanne Title, safety and wellness director for the Napa county office of education.

“As a word search, it makes people want to read it more,” Mason Warren, 16, said. Warren created an “M” tile for the mural.

The mural is just one of several other Vintage High art projects funded by the grant.

“It’s a great message ... doing this project shows you that you can do something else besides drink or do something stupid,” Sargent said.