Vashon High School’s main classroom building recently underwent a facelift, with finishing touches still in the works, thanks to a group of volunteers who have painted Building A.

The structure, formerly a faded beige, is now a mellow gold color — Honeyburst, according to the paint chip — with terra cotta trim and light green windows and doors.

“It looks fantastic,” said Dave Wilke, the facilities director for the school district.

Just weeks earlier, Jill Mulvihill and Diana Anderson, both mothers with children at the school, joined forces and told school administrators they would paint the building if the district would pay for the paint.

With blessings from school officials and steep discounts and generous donations of paint and other supplies from Island Lumber and True Value, a group of families came together and completed what would have been an $8,000 to $10,000 project for less than $1,000. The school district will end up paying even less, if the parents are successful in securing a grant they applied for from True Value, Mulvihill noted.

In just one weekend, Oct. 2 and 3, volunteers sprayed the whole building in two 12-hours days and made considerable progress on the many pillars, doors and windows. All in all, members of 10 families participated, with several teens of those families lending their time and energy, and Mark Ridgeway of Masterpiece Painting contributing his skill, especially in some difficult areas, Anderson said.

Mulvihill was quick to note the extensive work the teens put in on the project.

“They worked really hard,” she said. “They painted doors, pillars. There was all that detail work. They were good.”

The group hoped to finish last weekend but was rained out. They now hope to finish this weekend, weather permitting.

The improvement is striking and the response has been positive. The group now hopes to paint the back of the adjacent Building B to match the improvements of its next door neighbor.

“I think it is great,” said Laura Wishik, president of the school board. “People wanted to do it, and the school district needed it to happen.”

The last time the whole building was painted was in 1994, and it was long overdue to be painted again. But the school opted, in these financially lean years, to put its money toward other more pressing concerns, Wilke said.

The school district plans to seek a $47.7 million bond in February to rebuild and renovate portions of the aging campus. Should it pass, Building A would not be renovated for several years, making the volunteer effort worthwhile, Mulvihill said.

Choosing the look for the school was a cooperative endeavor, Wilke noted, with Mulvihill and Anderson offering a suggested color palette that school district officials and Integrus Architecture weighed in on and adjusted a bit.

The result is pleasing to Mulvihill, who mentioned that studies show color makes a difference in people’s mood and outlook.

“It’s a very up color,” she said.