Barnes Beautification Project, Day 1

In the spring of 2006, the kids at Barnes presented the PTO with a petition asking us to replace the pea stone under the play equipment in the front playground with something less abrasive. This summer, with support from Lowe's, CEDO and Alderson Environmental Contractor, we have taken this on as part of our summer beautification project, using all-volunteer labor. In addition to re-surfacing the front playground, we are increasing our garden space and muralizing the back entrance.

Thanks to the generous loan of a bobcat from Alderson Environmental Contractor, removing the pea stone from the playground won't be quite as labor-intensive as it would be by hand:


Our resident parent-artists Rebecca Hartwick and Maria Chomentowski are designing and organizing the painting of murals on the columns and ceiling of the back entrance to the school, with a sustainability theme:



(those are windmills, painted by one of the non-artist parent volunteers)

Of course, it wasn't all work, and there's nothing like working while surrounded by playing children: