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“ We want to make it pretty for the kids,” said
Gregory Burrus, president of the Historical Preservation Society. “ And
make it nicer for them to enjoy.” The SOHPS will provide volunteers for
the event and try to get the word out through SOMSNOW. com, a Web site
created by some parents.
“ We’ll be supporting it by supplying a number of
members to come in and actually clean and others who will get the word
out,” said Burrus. “ We will actually build part of SOMSNOW and enhance
it to support the event and we will promote sponsors on the Web site.”
Nancy Heinz- Glaser, on the advisory board and community outreach
chairperson of SOHPS, is supporting the effort by filming the event and
recruiting local committed gardeners and garden suppliers to contribute
resources.
“ We love our middle school,” said Heinz- Glaser.
“ The whole point is to love your school. We encourage community
involvement. There will be entertainment, clowns and baby- sitting so
people can help.”
Daniel Shepherd, manager of the Clifton Starbucks
and one of New Jersey’s community ambassadors for Starbucks’ “ Let’s
Clean Up Our Schools” Day, a one day beautification effort for nine
local schools, will be coordinating the Sept. 15 event and bringing
other Starbucks employees and volunteers with him.
“ We’ll be painting hallways in the school with
murals,” said Shepherd. “ And we’ll be planting flowers and bushes and
cleaning classrooms and school grounds.”
According to Karen Hoare, whose daughter attends
SOMS and who along with Johanna Wright, a teacher at the school and
union representative, is co- chairing the event, Starbucks has a
budget for the event and will be providing the supplies necessary as
well as coffee and cake for the volunteers.
As phase II of the event, on September 22, as
part of “ SHU 500+,” Seton Hall’s annual day of service, 125 Seton Hall
University student volunteers will be sent to SOMS to help in the
ongoing effort to clean up and beautify the school.
“ This is our second year working with South
Orange Middle School on this day,” said Michelle Sheridan, director of
the Division of Volunteer Efforts. “ This year we will be doing painting
and landscaping there. Last year we did painting as well.”
Becky Weeks, who will be a senior at Seton Hall,
volunteered last year at SOMS and remembers the condition the school was
in when she arrived.
“ We repainted the lockers,” Weeks said. “ They were in desperate need.
They had graffiti on them and the paint was chipping.”
At the end of the day, her big regret was that she
would not have the opportunity to see the faces of the SOMS students
when they returned to the school and found their lockers received a
facelift.
But Weeks was thrilled to have been part of something that truly made a
difference.
“ It’s a nice way to show appreciation to the Village of South Orange
for having our school in their town,” she said.
Businesses in and around the village are also
providing support for the school by donating food and supplies. Some
students will also participate including members of the Martin Luther
King Club and some of its alumni.
“ It’s about building the community and connecting
everyone,” said Burrus, whose seventh grader Chelsea, will be painting.
Heinz- Glaser agreed.
“ I don’t even have kids,” said Heinz- Glaser, “
but I want to take back the middle school. It deserves all of our love
and I believe it’s time to get back to the business of education.”
Debbie Hochberg can be reached at 973- 763- 0700,
ext. 111, or
debbielynn123@
aol. com.
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