As Temps Soar, So do Spirits at Outreach to Teach

By 9 a.m., it was 89 degrees. But the only number that mattered at Friday’s Outreach to Teach event in Arlington, Virginia, was 350—the number of volunteers who braved the heat to help out.

Outreach to Teach, an annual event organized by NEA’s Student and Retired programs, offers student members the opportunity to roll up their sleeves with retirees and active educators, and also to help transform a high-needs school campus with gallons of paint, buckets of seedlings, and heaps of enthusiasm. This year, the energetic group descended on Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia, the oldest high school in its district.

Inside, under the direction of the Rachael Ray Show designer Evette Rios, teams of volunteers were transforming the faculty dining room. Make way for the Country Squire Dining Room table, please! While, retirees Sarah Borgman of Indiana and Mae Smith of Illinois “sewed” together full-length curtains with sticky tape, Kimberly Gray, a recent graduate of Illinois State University, wore the signs of her labor across her black shorts: White paint!

“Today is all about giving back to the community and making the school environment a better place to teach,” Gray said.

Down the halls, busy volunteers created cloud-covered bulletin boards. “No intimate kissing, warned the behavior board. “Wakefield in the News!” crowed another. Many were putting to use donations from The Home Depot. Inside the media center, Wyoming student president Aaron Merkin had one of the most… interesting jobs, scraping gum off the bottom of chairs. (Every little bit helps!) “I can’t imagine how the kids are going to react. They’ll be, hopefully, so surprised and excited.”

“I say it’s like Extreme Makeover: The School Edition,” said Virginia student president Sarah Danielson.

Outside, Oklahoma Retired program president Joy Dennis took a much-needed break from painting yellow curbs. “Here I am, I’m hot and I’m sweaty and I probably smell, but I’m really enjoying it,” Dennis proclaimed. “What we’re doing really makes a difference – not only to the students, but the faculty. It’s a great morale booster.”

Missouri student president Geron Tatum agreed. “It’s not just about being in a classroom, it’s about creating an environment where learning is possible, where kids don’t have to worry about ceiling tiles falling on their heads.” But, even before the students return, and the faculty get a load of their new faculty lounge – fresh terracotta paint, faux-suede chairs, and a flat-screen TV, all donated by JCPenney – there is an immediate reward for everybody involved in the event, Tatum said.

With work gloves in hands, surveying the bags and bags of mulch that he and his team were spreading, Tatum said, “It’s like the old saying, ‘Alone, you’ve got one finger. But together, you’ve got a fist that can strike a mighty blow.’ … I just love Outreach to Teach.”

--Mary Ellen Flannery

Cross-posted on nea.org in RA Action