On Thursday, July 16 Urban Initiatives worked on a Corpsgiving-coordinated project with 350 volunteers from Digitas. The mission: give Lawndale Elementary Community Academy a much-needed makeover!
UI staff members April, Shy, and Kyle headed to Lawndale Elementary Community Academy, one of UI’s newest partner schools, early in the morning on July 16. Lawndale Elementary is housed in a beautiful, nearly 100-year old former Jewish Community Center. The building has seen a lot of love over the years, and it was in major need of some TLC.
Over the course of the day, team leaders and volunteers undertook a complete transformation of Lawndale’s lobby, stairwells, classrooms, and hallways. Aging yellow paint was replaced with bright murals featuring musicians, swirling color patterns, and the school mascot – the panther.
April’s group spent the day in Lawndale’s computer lab, painting an intricate digital mural. What started as pencil lines and painter’s tape slowly became four long walls of randomly patterned squares. Shy led a team that painted a math-themed mural, one that brought newfound excitement to square roots and thinking of number crunching as a creative challenge. Kyle’s team was tasked with painting inspirational quotes in formerly unappreciated nooks and crannies. Sources ranged from Arthur Ashe to Miguel de Cervantes, and Lawndale’s admin team each added their own words of wisdom to the mix, including the school’s maxim, “Make Lawndale Matter.”
Check out this awesome time-lapse video to see a tiny fraction of the work as it progressed.
“We love partnering with Corpsgiving, the volunteers from Digitas did amazing work, and we couldn’t have picked a more deserving school than Lawndale,” said Jim Dower, UI’s Executive Director. “The neighborhood has been overlooked for decades, and this is a very positive step in the effort to help the community thrive again.”
Thanks to everyone at Corpsgiving and to the incredible team from Digitas for making this event a smashing success.
