Gazette.Net: Service members lead mission to clean Hyattsville Elementary School

Greg Dohler/The Gazette Hyattsville resident Bart Lawrence, a member of the Parent Teacher Association at Hyattsville Elementary School, organizes books in the school's library Saturday as part of a volunteer effort to make improvements to the school.

In the U.S. Naval Sea Cadet program Maurice Morris takes part in at Northwestern High School in Hyattsville, he is used to taking orders. But Saturday he had a new task that also required skill and focus: sanitizing and power washing cafeteria tables at Hyattsville Elementary School.

Morris, 15, was one of 210 volunteers — which included members of the Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marine Corps and Navy, and parents and other community members — who put new mulch in the playground, painted the staff lounge, painted hallways, sanitized the kindergarten to second-grade classrooms, sanitized the cafeteria tables and reorganized the library.

?I wanted to come back because it?s good to see where you came from,? said Morris, a freshman at Northwestern and former Hyattsville Elementary student. ?It?s been a pretty good experience doing whatever we can to help others.?

Hyattsville Elementary Principal Jeanne Washburn said she was concerned that there would be a low turnout for the cleanup with meteorologists predicting snow and sleet Friday evening into Saturday morning.

?It?s all the things you want to do, but just don?t have enough time to,? Washburn said of the cleanup tasks. ?This has been a blessing to the Hyattsville community and the children of our school.?

As this year marks Hyattsville Elementary?s 95th anniversary, the service branches thought their efforts could provide an internal ?facelift? for the school, said Olivia Hunter with the Naval District Washington Regional Community Service Program. Last year, the joint services group cleaned up Rosa L. Parks Elementary School in Hyattsville. Saturday was the first service outreach at Hyattsville Elementary.

?Just like when you?re celebrating your 50th birthday, you want to do something special, we thought this provided us a good opportunity to do a special job for them,? Hunter said.

Colleen Aistis, the city of Hyattsville?s volunteer coordinator, helped arrange the event in conjunction with military coordinators.

?We?ve partnered with them for the past four or five years on projects throughout the city ... . I knew this would be a good fit,? Aistis said.

The Prince George?s County school system paid for painting supplies, and the city covered cleaning supply costs, Washburn said. The county school system?s maintenance staff helped prepare the building by priming walls for painting and installing new sinks, Washburn said.

Although she didn?t initially recognize Morris, Washburn said upon hearing his name, she was filled with pride.

?I?m so happy to see him today and proud of what he?s doing,? Washburn said.

Although the cleanup was scheduled for four hours, with nearly 90 minutes left, school officials had run out of tasks for volunteers.

?It was amazing to see a wall of people gathering here and willing to help our school,? said Bart Lawrence, the school?s PTA president.

Lawrence said one of the most significant efforts was done at the library where volunteers not only sanitized shelves but also put books in the correct location on the shelves — a task frequently left to parent volunteers.

?Our librarian, Linda Bradley, is here two days a week, and she handles the important things like working with the students so organizing the books and putting them on the shelves is secondary,? Lawrence said. ?It?s a well-used library, so this is a great thing for our students and Ms. Bradley.?

Hyattsville resident Christine Williams, helping to clean the library with her second-grade daughter, Ella, said with constant school budget cuts, volunteer efforts are essential.

?To have this as a resource for the kids is really important,? Williams said. ?They get to have a fresh coat of paint to the school walls to make it look better and to make them feel better about coming to school.?

jlyles@gazette.net

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Gazette.Net: Service members lead mission to clean Hyattsville Elementary School