work day,

Towards the end of May,

our high school had a work day

on a Friday.

The day still counted,

but there were no classes.

Each teacher was assigned a group of students

and given a job.

Most of my group were wonderful junior girls

 I had in class.

The lone senior 

was a fun, sweet girl I had always enjoyed.

So I was happy with my group

and they seemed happy with me.

 Our job was to mulch around the school.

 We first  pulled out the weeds.

My girls got right to it, digging out the weeds

with their hands

and hauling off rocks to dump elsewhere.

The area looked so much better when they were done weeding

and we hadn't yet added the mulch !

  Some jobs assigned to other groups:

1. cleaning out a huge shed

2. picking up trash

3. giving the outside basketball court

a fresh coat of paint

4. traveling by bus to a near-by village

and picking up trash there

5. boy students washing cars at a local car dealership

(no girls in wet t-shirts!)

6. repainting lines on the parking lot 

at a local grocery store

7. trimming shrubs at a local business

These are not all of them,

but enough to give  you an idea

of how extensive the outreach was.

The principal had contacted

businesses that donated to our school

throughout the year

 and expressed the desire to give back.

Several responded.

It was a great day.

Some of us were skeptical,

me being one,

 but we were happily proven wrong

about some concerns we had.

Everyone was give a t-shirt.

Female students and teachers

laughingly commented,

"You can tell a man ordered these---

a woman would never order white!"

(for several reasons)

                   

They are listening to the superintendent

give them a pep talk.

Some of my girls are shown eliminating weeds.

Two boys came over to help 

with one climbing up into the truck.

They were a big help.

This girl was freshening the paint on the court.

I'll sign off 

with a "Where I am From"

poem 

one of my students wrote.

Hope you have a wonderful week!