Written by guest writer Shaili Shouche, Avenue Intern and incoming senior at Glenda Dawson High School.

A healthy and appropriately developed learning environment holds a significant variety of benefits for all of its associated members. Specifically for students and children, surroundings that are clean and simple serve as a catalyst for both higher academic and developmental performance. In the same vein, a kempt learning space allows for teachers to better facilitate such growth in their students, building a strong foundation for these youth’s future academic and personal ventures. Given a classroom and school environment in which children and their teachers have the ability to focus on education and growth, a positive change in each student’s future can be created.

To facilitate this change in a local elementary school, on April 29th, the Avenue team partnered with Northline Elementary’s Wraparound Specialist, Mrs. Rosario Solis, to carry out a clean up event at Northline Elementary’s Spark Park. Working with volunteers from the Avenue team, HISD staff, Santa Maria Hostel volunteers, accompanied by over 50 Northline students themselves, the team embarked on completing a wide variety of tasks.

Together, the motley crew was successfully able to paint the park’s playground area, surrounding playsets, exercise station, swing set, as well as the wooded hallway that links the park to the school. Other beautification initiatives included planting flowers along the hallway, assembling a smaller playground for younger children, as well as a thorough park clean up.

The volunteers thoroughly enjoyed the experience of helping beautify a local elementary school park and making it an environment where children are able to interact, grow, and learn more efficiently for years to come.

Anna Chuter, a community volunteer with Avenue, noted, “For the longest time, our community group wanted to do a project at Northline Elementary but we have not been able to. Thank you, again, to Avenue for the invitation to participate in this event. I think it went well and it was fun to donate my time to beautify the Spark Park in our school and our community. Our wish is for the Spark Park to be open to the community around the school and not kept under lock and key so that everyone can enjoy it.”