Carlos Perez will graduate from Shelton High School in June, but the 18-year-old’s mark will endure there long after he’s gone. A large graffiti-style mural by Perez now covers a once-blank wall in one of the stairwells.

“Graffiti has always been a part of my life,” said Perez, who lived in Queens before moving to Shelton. “I really enjoy graffiti so much because of the culture behind it, the history behind it, all of the stories that come from it."

Perez used his own story for the mural, which is called “Bridging Worlds: From Queens to Shelton.” The artwork is Perez’s capstone project and pays tribute to the Shelton school resource officers who put him on his current path forward.

“The respect that I have for these officers and the rest of the PD—it really gives you a different outlook on life,” Perez told News 12.

The mural includes a stylized depiction of Perez next to the word “Shelton” with the Derby-Shelton Bridge painted below. Portraits of Officer John Staples and Officer Timothy Greene are on either side.

Staples came into the picture during Perez's freshman year after he got caught using his artistic talents in a not-so-legal way, tagging private property downtown.

“Back then, I was really lost,” said Perez. “I did not want to go to college. I did not want to do most of the things I want to do now today.”

Staples was not only a school resource officer at the time, but also the one who responded to the vandalism call. He stepped in and got through to Perez, pushing him to pursue more than just tagging.

“He helped give me another opportunity to take a look at my life and really acknowledge where I was going wrong and what I was doing wrong and how I could fix it,” Perez explained. “It made such a big difference because, you know, it gave me that feeling that people are looking out for me, people care about where I end up. And to me, that's everything.”

“I just worked with him, talked to him, you know, always just tried to make sure he was on the straight and narrow,” said Staples, who now works in the police department’s detective bureau.

School resource Officer Timothy Greene also connected with Perez, encouraging him along the way.

“Everybody knows Officer Greene. You know, you walk around the school, everybody dabs him up. He gets really close with all the teenagers here, and it makes an impact. It really makes an impact,” said Perez.

“When I took this job, that's my concept—bridging the communication gap between youth and law enforcement, and it couldn't be any better than this,” Greene said, gesturing to the mural. “I walked by it the first time, and I was like, ‘Oh my goodness!’ And from there, I was in shock.”

“It’s amazing,” Staples told News 12. “But we're not the heroes, or at least, I'm not a hero in this. The true hero in this is Carlos.”

Perez spent months on the mural and estimated that the painting alone took 170 hours. He was mentored throughout by Shelton High School art teacher Nicole Mattioli, who formed a bond with Perez when he took her class freshman year.

“I know how hard he worked on it. And I know his passion for it. I'm really proud of him,” Mattioli said. “He's dedicated and that's just who he is. He's just going places in the world.”

That includes the University of Connecticut, which Perez will attend next semester. He’s the first person in his family to go to college. The plan is to study civil engineering and one day become an architect—a dream he never thought he’d have when he first set foot in the school’s hallways.

“I'm on the high honor roll right now. I'm going to go to UConn, and to me, it's crazy because I look back at how I used to be when I first got to this town and I’m just amazed by it,” Perez told News 12.

The mural includes a plaque with the following: “This mural is a mix of two worlds: Queens, New York to Shelton, Connecticut. Graffiti’s raw expression has met the bold presence of the Shelton-Derby Bridge—a bridge between past and present, between where I have been and where I am now. Dedicated to the community and the officers who help shape our school.”

Perez hopes the mural encourages students to take advantage of their SROs and makes them think about what’s possible.

“The message behind this is: 'Don’t stay in the past. Live in the present. Forget about the past. Don’t let that define who you are. Don't let your past define you,” Perez explained.