BAKER — While others spent time with friends and family over the Christmas holiday, 18 Baker students were at school working.
Seniors Bayleigh Burlison and Logan Sullivan, along with 16 of their classmates, spent four days during the holiday break working in the elementary and middle school bathrooms as part of a school improvement project.
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The students replaced mirrors, cleaned the sinks and toilets, pressure washed, mopped floors and repainted the bathrooms.
“We knew it wasn’t going to last long but we were hoping to make the kids feel better about themselves and just for our school in general,” Sullivan said. “I think it’s one step in the right direction.”
Supplies for the project came from both Sullivan and Burlison, as well as from a sponsor and school Principal Mike Martello.
Martello provided students with five gallons of maroon and gold paint.
“I was literally floored that we had a group that was willing to give up their time during Christmas break and wanted to beautify the campus,” Martello said. “They identified a need and then came up with a solution. I think that speaks volume of the character of those kids. They did a fabulous job and I hope it instills pride within the facility with other students.”
While most of the project is complete, Burlison still hopes to add positive affirmations to the bathroom doors to help students feel better about themselves.
“I’m very proud of what we did,” Burlison said. “I didn’t expect a lot of people to sacrifice their own Christmas break to come up here and do something for other people. Hopefully by doing this, our younger classmates will step up and be like ’We can keep this going and keep them clean.’”
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Baker students use Christmas break to improve school