Parents Give Middle School A Paint Job

By Jeff White

Starting last Sunday morning at 8 am, 20 parents took up their brushes and rollers in the middle school’s A Wing during Support Our Schools’ (SOS) drive to give the middle school a paint job.

SOS, a 250-member ad hoc committee formed by parents this budget season, took up the job in the wake of cuts to the Board of Education’s budget that included, among other things, painting projects, bleacher and playground repairs, and other maintenance improvements throughout the district. The group has shown its solidarity throughout the budget season by attending school board and Legislative Council meetings, and has taken every opportunity to urge support for the district’s proposed spending plan. When the cuts came down, deciding to literally lend a helping hand was the obvious decision for many SOS members.

Joe Hemmingway, a co-chair of SOS, said this week that thus far, the middle school painting project has gone well. After working all day Sunday, Monday night and Tuesday night, parents found that they had primed the entire second floor of A Wing and one of the stairwells and coated them with a first layer of paint.

“It’s going pretty well,” he said Wednesday. “I was a little disappointed in the turnout, but I didn’t know what to expect with vacation.”

As far as support from the school district, Superintendent of Schools John R. Reed had his paint brush in hand Sunday as he worked side-by-side with SOS members for about five hours. Board of Education Secretary Margaret Hull also contributed to the effort, painting much of Monday night.

Dr Reed this week could not remember the last time such a large group of people had stepped forward to undertake a project like painting the middle school. “It’s not a normal occurrence that I can remember.”

“It’s a huge undertaking, and my hope would be that others as they learn about the project might consider lending a hand,” he added. “It also demonstrates people’s interest in the schools, [and] it’s good old fashioned community spirit.”

A few students present to receive community service hours provided additional help. Cheryl Clark, an SOS member, brought along all of her children to paint.

Mr Hemmingway said that the project would continue Thursday night and draw to a close with an all-day effort this Saturday, starting at 8 am. He said that SOS members are hoping that with the end of vacation more parents might be able to come and help out.

Only the A Wing will be completed during this push. Mr Hemmingway said that SOS would have to regroup and decide what weekends it can use to continue painting other parts of the Queen Street school.

SOS members are also busy deciding what other maintenance projects they might want to take up after the middle school paint project is complete. Tasks such as fence mending and playground repair are being talked about, though Mr Hemmingway insisted that right now the group is just interested in finishing their middle school effort.