The Village People

There is a big church nearby called "The Village". Their church mission includes serving the community. They have recently adopted my elementary school campus and have committed to several service days. Saturday was our first service day.

Our principal sent an email to all teachers asking who would like some help in our classrooms. She envisioned 20-30 helpers from "The Village People" to be onsite helping. I immediately replied that I would love some help setting up my new classroom. After 8 years of teaching, the thrill of creating bulletin boards and name tags has diminished!

When I went to school on Saturday, I was shocked at the turnout. There were literally 200 or more volunteers from the church! Each teacher got anywhere from 3-7 volunteers in their classroom! The volunteers who helped me were two amazing women and the husband of one of them. They helped me get my classroom 99% ready for school. Name tags are on tables, name tags are on lockers, posters are on the walls, the alphabet letters are on the wall, bulletin boards are hung, bookcases were assembled, tables were lowered, whiteboards were cleaned, supplies were taken to the storage closet, and they even hung the cute ribbons that hang from the ceiling to clip student work on! My new classroom was transformed from chaos to a cute kindergarten classroom ready for kids!

Another 75 volunteers from the church were outside doing schoolwide improvements. When I left, I was amazed at the transformation at our school! Bulletin boards in the hallways were all decorated, new textbooks and supplies were delivered to every individual classroom, backpacks and school supplies were assembled to donate to our students who need them. Someone told me there was team of about 50 people outside collecting trash, painting football and baseball field lines, painting the goal posts, and even changing the letters on the marquee!

Somewhere in there, they even managed to make hamburgers and have pizza delivered for everyone!

I was talking with my friend Ruth the other day and she reminded me that there are people in this world who just want to help people and don't require anything in return. We've always been blessed with having close friends and family members who are like that. But, this is the first instance I have ever experienced total strangers stepping up and helping total strangers. It was a very amazing day.