About 20 pupils studying for their visual art NCEA level 1 painted portraits of the rector in January, after department head Joanna Tokona suggested that it would be a good way for the pupils to ''get to know'' Mr Jackson while fulfilling study guidelines that required pupils to produce a portrait of a respected elder member of their community.
Six of the portraits are now on display in the Forrester Art Gallery in Oamaru, as part of the gallery's annual Burns Memorial Art Exhibition, which displays artworks from schools around the Waitaki district.
Mr Jackson said pupils had ''grilled'' him hard about his life and interests during two 25-minute sittings but added that it had been a great way to show that a principal was ''just a normal guy''.
Pupils had been interested in his upbringing on the Scottish Borders, his love of Mini Cooper cars and the fact that he used to box as a youngster.
''They wanted to know what I did before teaching, what my first car was.
''It was a great experience, and then, of course, word spreads all round the school and you get pupils coming up to you saying, 'Oh, I didn't know you boxed'.''
Art pupil James McCulloch said it took more than two hours to finish his artwork, which focused on the fact that Mr Jackson crashed his car soon after passing his driving test.
Fellow pupil Daniel Jamieson said the project had been a ''good way'' to get to know the rector and build respect between pupils and Mr Jackson.
Exhibitions curator Alice Lake-Hammond said the portraits would remain on display until June 30, but added that it was hoped that a room could be set aside in the gallery to showcase works on a more long-term basis.
Each school and preschool in the district had been asked to submit 10 panels for the exhibition, which was now in its 43rd year, and there had been an ''inspiring'' response.
''We've received an amazing range of art this year, everything from a roost of papier-mâché chickens, spaceships, street art, a woven foreshore. It is safe to say that the future of art in the Waitaki is in very good hands.''
