WAYNESBORO– On Sunday, Aug. 20, volunteers from Grace Church in Waynesboro went to Fairview Elementary to complete multiple beautification projects. Their team of over 100 volunteers built benches for the kindergarten classrooms so that the kids can reach the Promethean boards safely. These benches have storage in them and are already being used daily by the Falcons! Their team repainted benches in the lobby that mentors and kids had built a few years ago. This refresh breathed new life into the beautiful benches and honored the previous work. A large rolling cedar planter was made for the front entrance which will be filled with seasonal decorations and plants each year. One of their members made 51 classroom signs to identify each classroom. This not only provides some unity and visual coherence to our pods and helps to brand the building; it also makes it easier for visitors to navigate the large school.
Finally, the team took on a large project and completely rehabilitated the interior courtyard. They removed and rebuilt our five benches, honoring the WASD blue and gold. They weeded, tilled, tarped, and mulched beds on the east side of the courtyard. In one section, they added rocks that learners will be able to take and paint with their names and maybe a word as appropriate. These will be visible as learners, staff, and visitors cross our bridges daily and will help them feel connected to our school. The volunteers also weeded, tilled, and built raised planter beds on the west side of the courtyard. These beds can ultimately be used for planting vegetables and fruit for our learners in science classes. Before leaving that day, they laid out the courtyard in three sections so that three full classes could use the space at a time. Teachers have already been taking classes out there and are now continually realizing how much bigger and nicer it is than they previously thought.
“We are extremely grateful for this gift of time and hard work to improve our school. We are even more grateful for this partnership for our community. The future potential is truly limitless as we work together for our kids and community.” – Rita Sterner-Hine
