As part of the 6th Annual ARISE Detroit! Neighborhoods Day, ARISE Detroit partnered several DPS school sites with local businesses and community organizations to beautify school grounds, clean and paint the interior of school buildings, and create safe pathways to schools. This partnership was created in an effort to prepare the school buildings for the first day of teaching and learning across the district on September 4, and add to a positive Back-to-School message focused on school pride.
Some of the projects:
Paul Robeson Malcolm X Academy
Community Partner: Detroit Media Partnership
Project: 10 journalism apprentices, some of which are also Detroit Public Schools students, assisted Detroit Media Partnership staff members with painting the school cafeteria, walls, and lockers. Debora Scola, Community Affairs Director with Detroit Media Partnership met with school Principal Dr. Jeffrey Robinson at Home Depot on Friday, August 3, 2012 to purchase 20 gallons of paint and supplies for the project.
Beckham Academy
Community Partner: Law Offices of Joumana Kayrouz, P.L.L.C.
Project: The Law Offices of Joumana Kayrouz purchased wood to seal an abandoned home directly in front of the school building. Equipment was rented to remove a dead tree from the school grounds. Volunteers planted flowers around the building.
Dr. Benjamin Carson High School of Science and Medicine
Community Partner: Wayne State University
Project: Wayne State University provided 25 student volunteers to help remove old furniture, clean rooms throughout the building, paint lockers, and clean/paint the new parent resource room.
Cody High School campus
Community Partner: Cody Rouge Community Action Alliance
Project: Volunteers from Cody Rouge Community Action Alliance helped to prepare the inside of the building for the upcoming school year by cleaning classrooms, painting, and moving furniture.
Osborn High School campus
Community Partner: City Year Detroit
Project: Seven volunteers from City Year Detroit cleaned walls inside of the building in preparation for painting prior to the new school year. They also cleaned classrooms.
Clark Preparatory Academy
Community Partner: Handyman Ministries
Project: Volunteers helped to prep classrooms for the fall by cleaning, moving old furniture, etc.
Foreign Language Immersion and Cultural Studies School (FLICS)
Community Partner: Wayne County Community College District
Project: 14 volunteers helped to prep classrooms for the fall by cleaning, moving old furniture, etc.
Thurgood Marshall Elementary School
Community Partner: Pilgrim Village Association
Project: Volunteers cleaned/beautified school grounds.
More Neighborhoods Day highlights included:
Urban Farming: Demolition of vacant homes by the Motor City Blight Busters with help from volunteers to help create Detroit Farm City in northwest Detroit.
Cleanups: More than 50 neighborhood volunteer cleanup projects by block clubs and various community associations.
Youth Sports: Youth sports tournaments and exhibitions of all kinds, including the Detroit Tigers Home Town Championships, involving over 900 boys and girls playing baseball and softball; an exhibition by the Downtown Boxing Gym Youth Program, a pee wee golf tournament by the Hollywood Golf Institute and a fencing exhibition by Garde Detroit.
