Pine Tree Elementary looked a little different when students returned from Spring Break, Monday.
With $4,000 and 60 volunteers, the Home Depot Foundation took Pine Tree Elementary’s old gray walls to task.
‘There’s just no way we could have done this without them,? said Pine Tree Principal Diane Dunaskiss. ‘It would have been years of painting a few rooms at a time.?
Beginning at 8 a.m., April 8, a team of Home Depot employees, school staff, students and parents painted 16 classrooms. A Home Depot Foundation grant paid for supplies. Employees volunteered their time and skills during their day off and came from all over Oakland County to help.
The new color is a warm tan, that is ‘relaxing and very forgiving with scuffs,? said Dunaskiss.
Amy, a Lake Orion Home Depot employee and volunteer, used to be a teacher.
‘When you’re a teacher, your room is everything that you do. You’re in that room so much more than just the classroom hours. It should just be a place where not only students feel comfortable, but where the teacher is proud of their environment,? she said.
Jody, another LO employee and volunteer, said, ‘Why did I volunteer? Because it needed to be done. They didn’t have anyone else to do it, so why not??
Dunaskiss said she’s thrilled businesses and community members are still willing to help out in the tight economy.
Alaina Hart works in the Home Depot Foundation, which donates to non-profit organizations. She says the project got started when she and friend Sarah Goodman, a fourth grade teacher at Pine Tree, put their heads together.
‘She asked, ‘Is there anything that can be done to update our school? It’s gray and white and dingy.? And I said, ‘Well actually, there is,?? said Hart, noting projects have to be ‘impactful on the community, making it a better place to live and to educate.?
She added, ‘We’re not just an orange box that is there on a hill, we ? all of us ? love to give back to the community.?